Clear skies at 5:45 this morning, and the Weather Center is sitting at a comfortable 57° in Geneva — a genuinely fine start to a Wednesday that should deliver one of the better afternoons of the week before the pattern shifts. Temperatures across the region are clustered in the low-to-mid 50s, with calm westerly winds and humidity running in the upper 80s to low 90s. The NWS Buffalo office is flagging patchy river valley fog as a possibility this morning, particularly across the western Southern Tier — Corning and the valleys around Bath and Elmira sit in the lower 50s with light winds, which is exactly the setup for that kind of localized visibility issue. It should clear well before mid-morning.
From there, today is straightforward: clearing skies give way to a mix of sun and passing high cirrus, with highs climbing into the mid-to-upper 70s — 76° in Geneva and Auburn, 78° to 79° for Ithaca and Watkins Glen. A light westerly breeze keeps it comfortable all afternoon. Dew points stay low, so humidity won’t be a factor. Sunset comes at 8:50 PM, and evening looks pleasant through about 10 PM before clouds begin to thicken overnight.
Thursday is where the forecast gets complicated. A weather system tracking east-southeast through the Great Lakes trough will push increasing shower and thunderstorm chances into the region through the day — timing remains somewhat uncertain, but confidence is growing that Thursday will be unsettled. NWS has highlighted a marginal severe thunderstorm risk for the western Southern Tier Thursday, so stay alert if you’re in Corning or Elmira. The precip chance holds into Friday as well, with drizzle likely for Friday and into Saturday morning.
For the IMSA Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen weekend: Friday and Saturday carry the highest rain chances — dense drizzle Friday, lighter drizzle Saturday — with traffic building on Route 14 ahead of Sunday’s race. Race day Sunday looks considerably better, with partly cloudy skies and a high near 81°. Next week trends warmer, with upper 80s possible by Monday and a storm chance returning Tuesday as temperatures push toward 90°.
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.