Air Quality Concerns
The persistent plume of wildfire smoke that has been overhead for the last few days will change little today or even tomorrow.
Air quality remains steady with only small fluctuations for most areas. Generally speaking, the Air Quality Index is in the Orange—Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups range with an occasional Red—Unhealthy reading.
These levels of reduced air quality should remain steady the rest of day, tonight, and for most of Thursday. There are signs that, finally, by Friday, we may see improving air quality.
Besides the smoke, skies will be mixed today with numerous clouds mixing with breaks of sunshine. By the mid and late afternoon, a few stray showers and possibly a thunderstorm will pop up.
Most areas will not see rain at all today, and many that do will not see any substantial amounts. Still, a couple highly localized amounts of an inch or more cannot be totally ruled out due to the slow-moving nature of anything that does pop up today.
The best chances for rain will be west of Seneca Lake and along and north of the Thruway between 4 and 10 pm.
Temperatures will be similar today as the last couple days with highs in the low 80s across the southern half of the region and mid 80s to the north as a general rule. Typically warmer and cooler pockets will of course vary accordingly.
Overnight temperatures will be similarly split, with low and mid 60s to the north, and upper 50s to near 60 degree lows to the south.
Thursday, as already mentioned, will again be smoky. There should be fewer clouds than today, and no rain is expected.
Temperatures will be almost identical to today, both during the daytime and nighttime hours.
Weekend Weather Forecast
Smoke should be decreasing on Friday, but how quickly and to what degree this occurs remains uncertain.
Otherwise, skies will be mostly sunny with some occasional thin clouds passing through.
Temperatures will once again be almost identical to today and Thursday.
Warmer air will start to build as we head into the weekend. Most areas should be into the mid 80s on Saturday with some of the warmer areas hitting the upper 80s.
Dewpoints will remain steady, though, sticking to the upper 50s and low 60s as they have been all week.
Skies Saturday will be sunny with some passing thin clouds and a few small, fair-weather clouds. No rain will fall.
Temperatures will continue to rise on Sunday, with low 90s in the north and upper 80s to near 90 degrees across the south. Dewpoints will mainly be in the low 60s, but may increase a bit late in the day.
Sunny skies will persist with a continued lack of rainfall.
Monday will likely be the hottest upcoming days with most areas near or above 90 degrees. Humidity still looks lacking, with dewpoints returning mainly to the upper 50s. This should keep heat index values close to the actual temperature.
Tuesday will be more of the same, but probably a degree or two cooler thanks to more clouds than on Monday.
Finally, by Wednesday, rain looks likely as a cold front moves through. However, this is unlikely to be enough to counteract the recent dryness.
Beyond next Wednesday, the weather is too uncertain to draw any firm conclusions.
More Information:
» Finger Lakes Weather Radar
» Zip Code Forecasts
» Get the FLX Weather Mobile App
This graphic represents an average over the entire Finger Lakes region. Localized variations should be expected.
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