Hudson Valley Wednesday: Wake Up To Severe Weather

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — A cold front will produce showers and thunderstorms all day Wednesday across the region.

The National Weather Service has already issued a hazardous outlook for Orange, Putnam, Rockland and Westchester counties, saying locally heavy rainfall could produce areas of flooding. There is also a chance that some of the stronger thunderstorms could produce damaging winds.

"From 1 to 3 inches of rain may pour down in as many hours, which is more than enough to overwhelm some storm drains and collect in low spots along area roads and highways," said Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist. "Rapid flooding of small streams is also possible due to the saturated state of the ground and low evaporation rates in September."

Since June 1, much of New England has received one-and-a-half to two times its historical average rainfall with some locations topping 2 feet of rain, he said. The latest bout of torrential downpours on Monday brought localized flash flooding from New Jersey to New Hampshire — including in southern Westchester.

Along with the likelihood of flash flooding, there is the potential for storms to pack high winds and hail. A small number of tornadoes are also possible.

The greatest risk for tornadoes will extend from near the Hudson Valley through Connecticut and western and central Massachusetts during Wednesday afternoon and early evening, AccuWeather Meteorologist Joseph Bauer said.

Wednesday's rain will start well before dawn.

"Wednesday morning between about daybreak and almost noontime looks to be the heaviest of rainfall across Orange County," Bruce Furbeck of First Due Weather said on Facebook.

Here's a glimpse of the next 48 hours based on Rockland County:

As for the "cold" part of the front — temperatures will start dipping below 60 degrees early Thursday morning.

"Weather update on Hurricane Lee ... Still shows Lee missing the HVW area so far. May feel some wind gusts from Lee depending on how close Lee tracks along the east coast," said Todd Snow of Hudson Valley Weather.

Here's the daily forecast based on Yorktown:

• Tuesday night - A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms between 2am and 5am, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 5am. Increasing clouds, with a low around 65. Light and variable wind. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
• Wednesday - Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Some of the storms could produce gusty winds and heavy rain. High near 72. Light and variable wind becoming southwest around 6 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between three quarters and one inch possible.
• Wednesday Night - A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 2am. Some of the storms could produce gusty winds and heavy rain. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 56. North wind 5 to 7 mph.
• Thursday - Sunny, with a high near 71. Northwest wind 7 to 9 mph.
• Thursday Night - Mostly clear, with a low around 53.
• Friday - Mostly sunny, with a high near 69.
• Friday Night - Partly cloudy, with a low around 55.
• Saturday - Partly sunny, with a high near 71.
• Saturday Night - Partly cloudy, with a low around 55.
• Sunday - Mostly sunny, with a high near 75.
• Sunday Night - Partly cloudy, with a low around 57.