Break out the jackets — chilly air arrives in the Finger Lakes

Near Record Cold to Start September

A cold front moving across the Finger Lakes this morning with a few showers will send temperatures to near record cold levels Friday.

Some scattered showers ahead of the front are moving through the region this morning. The best chance for rain will be before 10 am as the rain moves south and dissipates.

A few areas may not see any rain. Most places will see a couple hundredths of an inch, but no more.

Temperatures may climb into the low and mid 60s for a time late this morning after the rain but before the cool air starts to really take hold.

Through the afternoon, the temperature will stall out and start to slide downward. By this evening, temperatures will be in the 50s.

Morning lows Friday will be in the 40s to near 50 degrees, depending on location.

A deck of high, thin clouds will move in from the south out ahead of the remains of Harvey. Some sunshine may filter through, but it will likely turn out to be a fairly dreary looking day.

Temperatures will struggle to get much past the low 60s for highs on Friday, which could challenge some record low daily maximum temperatures. Ithaca’s record lowest high temperature for Friday is 60 degrees, while Geneva’s is 58 degrees and Syracuse’s is 62 degrees.

Harvey Impacts the Weekend

It is looking increasingly likely that the remains of Harvey will impact the holiday weekend in the Finger Lakes.

An area of low pressure north of the Great Lakes Saturday will pull moisture from Harvey northward. The two systems will remain separate entities, with the low pressure center of Harvey passing along the coast of New England while strengthening into a pseudo-nor’easter.

At this time, it appears that rain will start as a few scattered showers Saturday afternoon while Harvey is just starting to restrengthen. An area of steady moderate to perhaps heavy rain should then develop Saturday night and move from south to north across the region.

Where exactly the heaviest rain falls is still uncertain. Some areas could see one to two inches of rain Saturday night into Sunday morning before the rain tapers off towards midday Sunday.

Thankfully, after a dry August, this should not cause flooding problems in the Finger Lakes.

Clouds will linger through much of Sunday with a few additional stray showers. This should keep temperatures mostly in the 60s.

Excellent Weather for Labor Day

By far the nicest day of the weekend, and likely the coming 7-14 days, will be Labor Day itself.

Behind Harvey, high pressure will quickly slide through the region. Another front will be moving into the upper Great Lakes but will be far enough away to have little impact Monday.

Instead, winds between the two systems will turn towards the southwest, transporting warm air northward. Highs on Monday should push 80 degrees for many areas.

Skies will be sunny throughout the day. The wind will be gusty though, with gusts of 30 mph possible.

The front will slide through either Monday night or Tuesday with a round of showers and thunderstorms. Behind the front, temperatures most of next week and beyond will be below normal with highs in the 60s and low 70s.