Syracuse, N.Y. -- The warm, dry stretch of weather in Upstate New York is coming to an end this weekend.
Rain is expected both Saturday and Sunday, with a chance for afternoon thunderstorms that could drop enough rain to cause isolated flash flooding. Soil is still wet from the heavy rain that fell a week ago from the remnants of tropical storm Debby.
“A slow-moving storm system will track across the region
and bring periodic rounds of showers and scattered thunderstorms tonight through Monday, with locally heavy rainfall and a few stronger storms possible over the weekend,” the National Weather Service said.
The weather service has placed most of Upstate New York in the “marginal” risk category for flooding rains this weekend. That’s the lowest of four risk categories and denotes a 5% to 15% chance of flash flooding.
On Sunday, the risk for the Hudson Valley and Catskills is higher, from 15% to 40%.
Flash floods are rapid rises in water in streets and streams that come from intense rainfall.
The remnants of Debby dropped 5 inches or more of rain just a week ago, and some of that water remains in the soil. That makes flash flooding more likely because the ground can’t absorb as much new rainfall.
Today’s high temperature will be in the mid 80s across Upstate, but will fall to the upper 70s over the weekend.
The storm system will linger into Monday, when more afternoon thunderstorms are possible.
By Tuesday, though, a high pressure system moves in from the Midwest and settles in for a few days, delivering sunny skies and high temperatures in the low to mid 70s.
Wednesday is opening day for the New York State Fair, and the forecast looks perfect: Sunny, with a high of 73 degrees.