Red Alert for strong, potentially damaging winds

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) — The newly upgraded "Red Alert" will remain in effect for the entire region through the day on Sunday.

The sun has been in full force since early this morning, and this has begun the mix the atmosphere. Strong gusts have begun to make their way towards the surface with gusts near 50mph so far. The gusty winds will continue this afternoon, and we are still on pace for gusts near 60mph later today. A low-level jet of about 70 knots has begun to move overhead, and these gusts will begin to mix their way down towards the surface as the.

The full intensity of those winds will not reach the ground, but at times this afternoon gusts will be at an excess of 50 mph with localized gusts over 60mph. Power outages will be possible this afternoon. As of now, only a few outages have been reported across the region but we do expect these numbers to increase with stronger gusts this afternoon. This event will not last too long as gusts will begin to subside after 6:00 this evening. The National Weather Service continues the High Wind Warnings and Wind Advisories for the region into the evening hours as well.

Sunshine has also let us warm up into the upper 60s already with the record of 70 degrees in jeopardy. Highs this afternoon will be close to 70 degrees, but by the looks at how well we have warmed up already the record will be broken. The warmth does not last too long unfortunately as colder air will begin to move in this evening as the cold front swings through during the late afternoon. Temperatures this evening will drop back into the upper 40s and then towards the freezing mark Monday morning.

Stick with the First Alert Weather Team through the rest of the afternoon as they keep you up to date on the latest power outage numbers and where the strongest wind gusts have occurred this afternoon.

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