A dry start to Friday will turn stormy first south of Albany this afternoon with a disturbance moving up through our region. We could all see a shower/downpour by this evening as rain and thunderstorm chances remain elevated well into next week.
Before storms arrive, temperatures will rise well into the 80s and even lower 90s. With elevated humidity, heat index values could reach the mid 90s in valley locations, where a Heat Advisory is in effect this afternoon. Any storms would quickly cool things locally.
Storms will be more numerous first south of Albany early this afternoon before advancing northward by late afternoon. Storms may contain heavy rain and gusty winds.
Storms will lose intensity overnight, but a few showers and rumbles are possible. Temperatures will be mild again, struggling to drop below 70 in the Tri-Cities.
Saturday and Sunday look to be pretty similar days, though Saturday looks slightly wetter than Sunday. Both weekend days look to feature predominantly dry and muggy mornings before showers and storms fire up for the afternoon and early evening hours.
Storms and cloud cover should keep temperatures lower, with more 80s expected. Neither day looks to be a washout.
Monday features a low-end shower/thunderstorm chance at this time, but a potential coastal storm looks to curve towards our region for the middle of the week bringing rain and thunder. Guidance is a bit volatile at this time, so we will watch the modeling trends closely through the weekend and into next week to grasp how long and just how much rain we may see as a result of this system.
