16 hours ago - American Public News

ITHACA, N.Y. — A 50 degree swing in temperature within two days? Sure, why not. It’s spring in Upstate New York, after all. It’ll be a very active weather week to kick off April, with the threat for severe thunderstorms and damaging winds tomorrow, possible snow and sleet Tuesday, and temps back into the 70s with showers by Thursday. At least the weekend is looking more seasonable and quieter. For a day or two, anyway.Scattered rain showers continue today and tonight, though there will also be some dry periods. Temperatures climb into the 50s and 60s. We continue to monitor the potential for strong to severe thunderstorms Monday afternoon and evening. The main concern will be damaging gusts. pic.twitter.com/XW5N0oQ1nQ— NWS Binghamton (@NWSBinghamton) March 30, 2025 Your Weekly WeatherA large storm system currently centered over the Midwest has created quite the meteorological dichotomy this weekend across New York State. As the warm frontal trough was draped west to east across the state yesterday, with two starkly different air masses on either side, conditions ranged from 23 F in Lake Placid with an Ice Storm Warning, to 81 F and heightened wildfire risks on Staten Island. The front stalled about 30-40 miles further south than forecast Saturday, which led to many blown forecasts across the I-90 corridor. For today, however, with a more NW-SE orientation, the presence of milder air in Tompkins County is more assured. It’s already in the mid 50s, and highs in the mid to upper 60s are likely. There is some threat for light rain showers today (<0.10″ total), and even a few thunderstorms to the west of Tompkins County, but overall, it won’t be a bad day to get outside, if you don’t mind cloudy skies. Tonight in the temporary dryness of the low’s warm sector, Ithaca will see a few scattered rain showers, a south breeze, and mostly cloudy skies with lows only falling back to the upper 50s.Monday gets dicey. The low moves eastward, and its cold frontal boundary should arrive around 6 PM, give or take an hour or so. Ahead of it, it will be showery with cloudy skies and highs in the low 70s. The biggest concern is that there will be enough instability and heat energy to fire up some strong thunderstorms, with straight-line damaging winds being the greatest threat, so do be mindful of any thunderstorm warning should they be issued. Behind the front, temperatures plunge pretty darn quick on a gusty northwest wind, with post-frontal showers turning from rain to snow as lows fall to the low 30s by sunrise. Tuesday will be like going back in time six weeks. The day starts with a mix of snow showers and sleet, with cold rain showers by late morning. Precip amounts don’t appear to be significant. Skies will largely clear out late in the day, with highs only in the low 40s. Tuesday night will see partly cloudy skies with lows in the mid 20s.The next strong system begins to organize over the Upper Plains Wednesday. This will induce a gusty south wind over Upstate NY, along with some PM rain showers as the warm front nears, with skies going from partly cloudy to overcast. Highs will be in the lower 50s. Wednesday night will see periods of rain as the warm front passes, and an evening low in the mid 40s will then see temps in the low to mid 50s by sunrise Thursday.With south breezes and mostly cloudy skies, Thursday is once again a warm spell. Your poor plants will struggle to cope with this temporal roller coaster. Highs will be in the mid 70s. Models show this low moving eastward over Canada, but the front gets stretched and weakened around a strong high pressure centered around Bermuda, so this cold front won’t be as strong or as rapid a change as Monday’s. While it arrives around sunset Thursday with some showers ahead and behind it, lows will be in the mid 40s Thursday night, and northwest winds overnight will be weaker. With high pressure over the Western Great Lakes and the remnant front to the south, Friday looks like the first quiet day of the week. Skies will be partly cloudy with highs in the upper 50s. Friday night will be partly cloudy with lows in the mid 30s.Peering ahead into next weekend, Saturday looks fine, but Sunday will need to be monitored, as that remnant cold front and a clipper low passing over Canada may work in tandem to strengthen each other and produce a substantial rain event. For now, expect low to mid 50s Saturday and Sunday, with a mix of sun and clouds Saturday and possible rain Sunday, with lows in the mid 30s to around 40 that will likely keep this an all-rain event.Graphics courtesy of the NOAA Climate Prediction Center.Extended OutlookWith that system next weekend, a large-scale regime change is expected. The low strengthens and then becomes stuck over Eastern Canada, funneling cold air into much of the Eastern United States. This will then create an upstream ridge in the jet stream, with warmer than normal conditions over the Western U.S. Additional, this East Coast jet stream trough will keep Gulf and Atlantic moisture over the Southern U.S., with cold but dry continental air over much of the Great Lakes and Northeast. In sum, it’s looking colder if drier than usual for Tompkins County during the first half of April. The post Weather: Wet and wild temperature swings this week appeared first on The Ithaca Voice.First published by The Ithaca Voice.