First Alert Weather: Yellow Alert Wednesday for strong to severe thunderstorms

A First Alert Yellow Alert remains up for Wednesday, as strong to potentially severe thunderstorms are expected to develop. The main weather threat will be some strong to damaging wind gusts within the strongest storms, but some small hail, lightning and locally heavy rain will also accompany these storms. The timing of the storms will be from 2 p.m. for the western edge of our viewing area, to 7 p.m. in the Finger Lakes. The Rochester area should expect the storms between 3 and 5 p.m., which includes the evening commute.

Wednesday starts off mostly sunny and it’ll turn quite warm, with highs into the upper 80s and a few spots pushing 90. Showers and storms will begin to develop quickly after noon, then blossom into the afternoon with plenty of instability to act as fuel. Storms will exit quickly after 7 p.m., with another batch of showers developing after midnight accompanying a cold front. These showers will linger into early Thursday morning, but pull away quickly, giving way to dry and more comfortable weather for the rest of the day. This fair weather will last into Friday, before the chance for a shower or rumble to kick off the Memorial Day weekend on Saturday. Sunday appears dry, with another round of showers on Monday. This is a somewhat active weather pattern with fast moving disturbances, so expect some changes to the timing of these rounds of rain. Stick with the First Alert Weather team on air and online for updates on our storm threat and Yellow Alert Wednesday, and also for updates to the holiday weekend forecast.