This week started unsettled and that is exactly how it's going to end.
Heat alerts remain in effect for a swath of the tri-state area going into Saturday, with parts of New Jersey, the Hudson Valley, Long Island and Connecticut expected to see feels-like temperatures near or topping 100 degrees.
Check the latest weather alerts for your neighborhood here.
The extreme heat will also help to destabilize the atmosphere and spark storms.
Strong storms moved into the New York City area Friday evening, bringing thunder, lightning and heavy downpours dropping up to two inches an hour. Gusts to 60 mph were powerful enough to snap tree branches and cause downed power lines. There was also a chance of isolated flooding.
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Nearly every day this week has brought at least a few showers or storms, and we are going to increase the storm activity into the weekend. Some of those storms could be strong to severe, capable of producing some locally heavy rainfall.
A weak ridge of high pressure that kept any storms more isolated earlier this week will be replaced by a front, which will help keep the atmosphere more unstable.
Extreme heat in and around the tri-state area will contribute to the instability, too. Heat advisories are up across most of our region through Friday. Heat index readings, or “feels like” temperatures, will hover between 95 and 100 degrees for most, while some parts of western New Jersey could feel as miserable as 103 degrees.
Storms were expected to fizzle and move offshore overnight before bubbling up again late Saturday.
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Expect a repeat performance on Saturday and perhaps Sunday, too, with flooding and damaging wind remaining slight threats from afternoon and evening storms.
Like Friday, Saturday’s storms will be concentrated during the late afternoon and evening. They will also be capable of producing damaging wind and isolated flooding.
On Sunday, we will continue the trend of hot, humid and stormy weather, but the intensity level will be lower. Temperatures will be down slightly and the risk for severe storms will be lower. Regardless, keep an eye to the sky and be prepared for a plan “B” if you find yourself in a storm drifts through your neighborhood Sunday afternoon or evening.
Rain totals through the weekend should add up to an inch or two in the western half of our region, while most will see between a half inch and an inch. In the areas where the heavier pockets of rain set up, totals could be closer to the 2-3 inch range, or locally even more.
In addition to the rain, the heat will continue into the weekend as well. Heat advisories remain in effect for most of the region. Heat index readings, or “feels like” temperatures, will hover between 95 and 100+ degrees in the Heat Advisory zone.
As we head into the unsettled weekend, be sure to check StormTracker 4 on your NBC New York app frequently and stay one step ahead of the weather.
Modest heat relief arrives early next week. It’ll still be hot and humid, but not quite to Heat Advisory levels.
Check out your 10-day NYC forecast outlook below.
Track any approaching rain using our interactive radar below.
