NEW YORK CITY — Heavy rain will fall through the Canadian wildfire smoke hanging over New York City throughout the weekend, creating "dirty rain" and possibly reducing the air quality further, forecasters said.
According to the National Weather Service, Friday will see some improvement in air quality before showers and thunderstorms are expected in New York City Saturday into the evening.
During the day Saturday, the air quality is expected to worsen again, and up to half an inch of rain could fall. At night, another three-quarters of an inch is expected, forecasters at the National Weather Service said.
Air quality alerts have been issued in all five boroughs and are in effect until midnight, according to the National Weather Service.
As the rain comes down, it can attach to smoke particles higher up in the atmosphere, which will reduce the air quality by pulling that smoke down into the city and leaving a dirty film on windows and other surfaces, forecasters at CBS News said.
"Showers and thunderstorms are expected Saturday into Saturday evening. There is a slight risk for severe thunderstorms with the main threat damaging wind gusts," National Weather Service forecasters said. "Heavy rainfall is also possible, which may lead to isolated to scattered flash flooding."
New Yorkers who are sensitive to air quality, like people with asthma, young children, and older adults, will want to avoid spending a lot of time outside or doing strenuous activities outdoors.
Conditions are expected to clear by Sunday, thanks to some fast-moving breezes and a high of TKTK.
You can check the current air quality by visiting AirNow.gov.
Here's the latest forecast from the National Weather Service.
Friday: Areas of smoke before 3 p.m. Mostly sunny, with a high near 87. Calm wind becoming northwest around 6 mph in the afternoon.
Friday night: Patchy smoke after 8 p.m. Partly cloudy, with a low around 72. Calm wind.
Saturday: A slight chance of showers, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 11 a.m. Areas of smoke. High near 82. South wind 5 to 8 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Saturday night: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm before 2 a.m. Low around 72. South wind around 8 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three-quarters of an inch possible.
Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 82. Northwest wind around 8 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Sunday night: Mostly clear, with a low around 66.
This is a developing story and will be updated. For questions, email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.
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