Fog and rain start the week

Storm System Heads Northeast

A developing storm system over the middle of the nation will track northeast over the next couple of days, keeping the weather in the Finger Lakes active through early Wednesday.

Monday morning, this system was centered near Kansas City. A long warm front extends east from the low pressure system into the Finger Lakes region.

The center of this storm will track towards the Great Lakes today, then into southeastern Canada on Tuesday, passing to the northwest of the Finger Lakes.

As this system goes by, the Finger Lakes will go from foggy to rain to windy to snowy.

Thankfully, though, precipitation amounts will be manageable and the winds will not get too strong. For most areas, this should be a low impact storm system.

Foggy, Showery Monday

With moist air pushing north into the Finger Lakes, the remaining snowpack is producing areas of thick fog. This fog will likely remain in place throughout most of Monday and into Monday evening before winds increase and disrupt the fog formation.

Visibility will be reduced to less than a mile for many areas and could drop below a quarter mile at times. Use headlights and reduce your speed when traveling.

Spits of rain will be likely throughout the day and evening hours, but a period of steadier rain will be likely during the midday and early afternoon hours.

This rain should only last an hour or two before it pushes off to the northeast.

Temperatures on Monday will start in the mid and upper 30s and should creep into the low and mid 40s. The warmest temperatures will be across the western Southern Tier, with the coolest areas near Lake Ontario.

Temperatures should hold in the low 40s overnight.

Rain to Snow…and Wind

Another, larger area of rain will move into the region after midnight tonight and persist into Tuesday morning.

A few heavier downpours will be possible, especially just before dawn.

The rain should taper back to scattered showers by mid-morning Tuesday.

Most of the precipitation from this system falling by Tuesday morning with total amounts generally near or slightly above a half-inch.

While this amount of rain on its own is unlikely to cause flooding problems, the warm temperatures and wind will help contribute to ice break-up on area streams and rivers. This could lead to localized ice jam flooding.

Winds will start to pick Monday night and will increase through Tuesday before peaking Tuesday night.

Top winds gusts during the day Tuesday will be 30-35 mph with gusts to 40 mph Tuesday night.

Cold air will move back in after highs in the mid and upper 40s Tuesday. Rain will turn to snow, with a coating to an inch or so falling Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.

Quiet, Cool End to the Week

High pressure will build into the area on Wednesday and will retain control of the weather through the end of the week.

This should mean some sunshine, but also some briefly cooler temperatures.

Highs on Wednesday and Thursday will both likely top out in the low and mid 20s, which is slightly cooler than normal.

Morning lows Thursday will mostly be in the low and mid teens, but Friday morning could see some of the colder valleys slip into the single digits.

Warmer air will start to return by Friday afternoon though, with highs pushing back into the mid 30s.

At this early stage, the weekend again looks comfortable with some sun on Saturday and some showers on Sunday.