Rainy Weather Returns
A slow-moving area of low pressure will meander northeast from the Ohio River Valley to near Lake Erie tonight, then will redevelop along the New England coast on Thursday and stall out into the weekend.
An area of steady rain ahead of this low is already moving from southwest to northeast into the Southern Tier early this morning.
It will take all morning and into the midday hours for this rain to spread across the entirety of the Finger Lakes region, though most areas outside of the Syracuse area should see rain before noon.
Once the rain begins, it will fall steadily for most, if not all, of the rest of the day. Toward sunset, the rain may break up slightly into a more showery pattern, especially for the Southern Tier.
That being said, the showers will remain numerous and widespread throughout the night and into Thursday morning.
Some models are trying to break the showers up more Thursday afternoon, so a few areas may see a more substantial break in the rain. Most, however, will see on and off showers continuing.
As the low becomes better defined along the New England coast, another area of more widespread showers or steady rain may be pulled through the region on Friday. The timing of this area as well as its location is a bit uncertain, but one way or another, it will be another rather rainy day.
Total rainfall between this morning and Friday evening should be between an 1 and 1.5 inches for most of the region. Far northeastern areas around Syracuse may see a bit less due to the slowness of the rain setting in today.
Temperatures will be cool throughout this time period. Most areas will be in the low to mid 50s today with a few upper 50s or even low 60s near Syracuse, again thanks to the delayed onset of the rain. Low 50s are most likely for highs Thursday and Friday.
Nighttime temperatures will remain steady in the mid 40s for the rest of this week and even into the weekend.
Memorial Day Weekend Weather Forecast
The low pressure system will linger over Maine on Saturday, then weaken and start to head eastward on Sunday. Meanwhile, a large area of high pressure will build into the north-central United States and start to push eastward.
This pattern will result in a continued unsettled pattern, but with a daily decrease in the amount of rain showers around.
Saturday will still be rather showery, and, like Friday, there could even be a period of steadier showers for some area. However, as a whole, there should be a slight reduction in the amount of rain compared to Friday.
Will it be enough to make a meaningful impact on outdoor plans? That is debatable.
Sunday should have a more notable decrease in shower activity, though there will continue to be some scattered showers here and there.
Monday will be the driest day of the holiday weekend, with just a few stray showers, mainly in the morning hours.
Temperatures will respond to the decreasing showers by increasing. Highs Saturday will still be chilly in the mid 50s, but Sunday should see most areas reaching the low 60s. Monday will be a couple degrees warmer in the mid 60s.
High pressure will be the primary weather driver throughout next week, keeping rain chances lower. Still, a small system may try to split the high into two pieces and bring some midweek showers.
Temperatures will slowly but steadily rise, reaching the 70s by next weekend and persisting into early June.
More Information:
» Finger Lakes Weather Radar
» Zip Code Forecasts
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This graphic represents an average over the entire Finger Lakes region. Localized variations should be expected.
Susan
Cornell Commencement is this weekend. We will be walking most of the day Friday but don’t have events outside. Saturday morning, however, we (and all the graduates and their families) will be outside, sitting in the stadium from 9 to 11 am. Based on your forecast, we should be prepared for rain. But what temps will we enjoy sitting on the bleachers on Sat am? (IMO, the worst ever weather is 40’s and raining and I assume that’s what we will have?) Thanks!
Meteorologist Drew Montreuil
Yeah, you’ve got the right idea, unfortunately… 40s with rain showers look likely for Saturday morning.
Sharon Warren
Drew, why is it, the last few days when we had little to no rain, there was a flood watch, but today, when we’re getting a steady rain all day, there isn’t? Really curious about that. 🙂
Meteorologist Drew Montreuil
Hi Sharon,
I’m not aware of any flood watches that have been in effect this week. There was a flood warning for Cayuga Lake, automatically triggered by the lake level being above flood stage, from late last week into early this week. It dropped below flood stage yesterday, allowing the warning to be ended.