Stormy, Stormy Night

That radar image is showing one bad-ass line of thunderstorms extending south from Rochester. The weather is heating up today, literally and figuratively. Central Park topped out at 69 degrees, while Teterboro reached 72. The 16 degrees above average is our most abnormally warm day since April 20th, when the high temperature was 21 degrees above normal.

What we have to look forward to for the remainder of this spring-like day is lots of wind, rain, possibly a thunderstorm, and possibly flash floods. The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood watch for the city and suburbs starting at six this evening through late tonight. A tornado watch is in effect from southern New Jersey down along the coast to North Carolina.

All indications are that the storm will be intense as it quickly moves through town. We are likely to get 1-2 inches of rain, possibly more, over only a few hours. Since the ground is saturated and the storm sewers can't handle that much water, flash flooding is likely.

There's a lot of energy associated with this storm, which is an obtuse way of saying it is also going to be windy. Winds will pick up to a steady 20 miles and hour with gusts to 50. Sounds like a great evening to wait in line for a PS3!

The upside? A calmer, but cooler weekend is in store. Temperatures will hold steady, or even fall, through the mid-50s tomorrow. Highs Saturday and Sunday will be in the low-50s.

Radar image from Intellicast.com.