Radar courtesy of wunderground shows the movement and intensity of precipitation over the last hour. Click to enlarge.

A highly unsettled weather pattern has established itself across the area, and will continue it's stranglehold on  the areas weather through the weekend and into early next week. Today, though, we'll be playing a game of trying to avoid the steady rain, one which we could not win on Friday. Many areas throughout the New York City Metro and surrounding states recorded over 2 inches of rain on Friday, continuing a nearly two month long stretch of well above normal precipitation departures. The culprit this time has been a large mid and upper level system, which continues to spin well to our west over the Central United States and extending towards the Western Great Lakes. Nearer to our area, on the periphery of a large high pressure over the Atlantic Ocean, a tropical moisture feed is developed. A stalled front near the area is acting as a "highway" for disturbances to pass along, and the result has been steady rain. Luckily, today looks like it may feature a bit of a lull, as another low pressure organizes for early Sunday. High temperatures today will move back into the mid and upper 70's, and although we probably wont see much sun...the lack of moderate to heavy rain will make it more bearable. Obviously, with the unsettled pattern in place...showers are still a good bet at any point during the day. The general idea, though, is that they will be more brief and somewhat scattered.

THE FORECAST...

Today (Saturday): Mostly cloudy, with a 40% chance of showers. Highs in the middle to upper 70's. South winds around 5 miles per hour. Still a very moist and humid airmass--it will feel very warm and sticky. Don't wear any rain gear that's too heavy..you will be too warm.

Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a 40% chance of showers. Low's in the middle 60's. South winds around 5 miles per hour. Continued moist and humid conditions--and again scattered showers.


HEAVY RAIN MAY RETURN SUNDAY...

Forecast models are indicating the potential for another low pressure area to develop along the stationary front near the area on Sunday. The result would be the re-development of moderate to heavy rain during much of the day. The forecast remains highly uncertain at this point, and forecast models have been prone to significant shifts over the past 24 hours. So we will keep a close eye on it as today wears on. One things for certain--the potential for heavy rain on Sunday is definitely higher than it is today (Saturday).

Article written by John Homenuk. Published September 24th, 2011 at 12:28am. Looking for a forecast? See New York Metro Weather's Long Range Forecast for weekend, or view our Technical Forecast Discussion for the more serious weather enthusiasts. Also, check out our new Forecast Overview tab. For up to the minute details on forecasts, watches, warnings, and alerts, follow us on Twitter and Facebook.