Rain Due Before Next Hudson Valley Heat Wave

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — The region is due two days of thunderstorms and showers, slightly lower temperatures and higher humidity before what could be our third heat wave of the summer.

"Under mostly cloudy skies, our wettest period of the week arrives during Friday afternoon and likely lasts into Saturday afternoon," Bruce Furbeck of First Due Weather said on Facebook.

The humidity will start climbing Thursday evening, drop 30 percentage points on Friday and then climb again Saturday to 97 percent at dawn. We'll add heat starting on Sunday, as temperatures rise above 90 again.

"Excessive Heat with heat indices between 95°F and 105°F are likely through Wednesday," Furbeck said.

Bursts of rain that could lead to flash flooding, especially along much of the Interstate 95 corridor, are possible into the weekend due to new tropical moisture along the Atlantic coast, said Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist. "A general 1-2 inches of rain will fall without the tropical low's influence, but where it becomes involved, local amounts of 4-6 inches can occur in 24 hours or less. Motorists should expect slowdowns on the highways due to torrential downpours and ponding in some cases on Friday and Friday night along the mid-Atlantic coast, back to portions of I-95. Street flooding can occur where the heaviest downpours linger for a couple of hours."

Here's the five-day forecast based on northern Westchester from the National Weather Service:

• Thursday - Mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 80s. Southwest winds 10 to 15 mph with gusts up to 25 mph.
• Tonight - Partly cloudy. A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after midnight. Lows in the upper 60s. Southwest winds 5 to 10 mph. Gusts up to 20 mph in the evening. Chance of rain 20 percent.
• Friday - Partly sunny with a chance of showers with a slight chance of thunderstorms in the morning, then mostly cloudy with showers likely with a chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon. Humid with highs in the mid 80s. Southwest winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60 percent.
• Friday Night - Showers likely with a chance of thunderstorms. Humid with lows in the lower 70s. South winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70 percent.
• Saturday - Showers likely with a chance of thunderstorms. Humid with highs in the mid 80s. South winds around 5 mph. Chance of rain 70 percent.
• Saturday Night - Partly cloudy. A chance of showers and thunderstorms in the evening. Lows around 70. Chance of rain 40 percent.
• Sunday - Sunny. Highs in the lower 90s. Heat index values in the upper 90s.
• Sunday Night - Mostly clear. Lows around 70.
• Monday - Mostly sunny. Highs in the lower 90s. Heat index values up to 100.
• Monday Night - Partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 70s.

Here are the next 48 hours at a glance based on Rockland County: