Forecast Highlights:
- Cloudy and mild with scattered showers & drizzle overnight
- Widespread soaking rain develops around sunrise on Wednesday
- Gusty winds Wednesday afternoon (25mph to 40mph)
- Rainfall totals 1.5 to 2.5 inches expected… locally higher totals possible
The last 24 hours have been unsettled, with periods of light rain, showers and drizzle. Not to mention the low clouds and fog as well. Things will continue to remain that way overnight, and our Wednesday will be a total “washout”. While that may have impact on your day’s plans… when you are in the midst of a severe drought, that’s exactly the type of news you want to hear.
Futurecast Radar: 12am Wednesday to 12am Thursday
The futurecast radar tells the story, as scattered rain showers will push into the region overnight, and become a steady widespread rain by Wednesday morning. Heavy downpours are possible at times during the afternoon hours, continuing into the evening hours. Because of the convective nature of the rain on Wednesday, it’s possible things could taper off for brief periods… and then be followed by a heavy downpour 10 minutes later. But either way, you’ll need the umbrella all day on Wednesday, as the rain won’t taper off until after sunset. By the time everything tapers off… a widespread 1.5 to 2.5 inches of rain appears likely at this time.
But another dimension to the storm will be the increasing wind gusts out of the south on Wednesday afternoon. Winds will increase to 10 to 20mph… with gusts possibly 30mph to 40mph late in the day.
The strongest wind gusts will be east of the Hudson Valley, as you can see on this graphic, gusts over 50mph are projected in Long Island and eastern Connecticut. But here locally, the strongest gusts appear to be between 30mph and 40mph for the most part. The timing on the strongest gusts appears to be during the afternoon hours… between 12pm and 6pm. So be sure to plan accordingly.
A potential ‘drought buster’ of a storm is on the way for the Hudson Valley. We’ll have updates along the way, check back for more information tonight and Wednesday morning. Stay dry everyone!