The region wakes up this Wednesday under a gray, damp blanket — temperatures sitting in the upper 40s to low 50s from Bath to Penn Yan, with overcast skies and humidity running high across the board. No alerts are in effect, but that doesn’t mean this is a quiet day.
Here’s the setup: a deepening upper-level trough is grinding slowly southeastward across the Great Lakes, dragging a cold front with it. That front will push through the Finger Lakes this afternoon, and forecasters at the Buffalo NWS office are flagging the potential for a line of showers and thunderstorms ahead of it — with gusty winds possible, particularly across the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes interior. Keep that in mind if you have outdoor plans between roughly noon and early evening. The Watkins Glen and Corning corridors are in the zone of concern.
Highs today will reach the mid-60s — near 66° in Watkins Glen, around 64° in Corning — before the front sweeps through and temperatures begin sliding. Expect showers to linger into the overnight hours as the surface low drifts across New York State. Lows will settle into the upper 40s.
Thursday continues the unsettled pattern — cool and damp, so plan accordingly. But relief is clearly on the horizon. A meaningful warming trend begins Friday and accelerates through the weekend, with the Buffalo office using the phrase “summer-like heat” to describe conditions arriving by early next week. The patience will pay off.
Stream flows are running at healthy seasonal levels across the region, with no flooding concerns at this time.
Weather Center forecast for the Finger Lakes region. Sourced from NWS, Open-Meteo, NWS Area Forecast Discussion, and USGS stream-flow data. Updated 6 AM, noon, and 6 PM ET.