NYC Memorial Day Weekend Weather: Plan For Showers, Thunderstorms

NEW YORK CITY — Better make some backup beach plans for Memorial Day weekend, New Yorkers.

Showers and thunderstorms are in New York City's forecast starting Thursday and extending all the way till Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.

Keen-eyed weather watchers will note a downward turn in the holiday weekend's forecast. That's because of a storm system and jet stream wrinkle — which both caused torrential rain and tornadoes in the south-central United States — is expected to change course and move northeast toward the city, AccuWeather reported.

"Based on the latest AccuWeather forecasts, people with weekend getaways in mind that involve a great deal of outdoor activity should be prepared for less-than-ideal conditions and have raingear on hand," the AccuWeather report states. "A general 0.25 to 1 inch of rain is forecast to fall with locally higher amounts spread mainly over the first third of the three-day-long weekend."

But there's some good news: it's still unlikely to rain the entire time, AccuWeather forecasters predicts.

The final, holiday-cherry-on-top good news is that Memorial Day itself is predicted to be sunny and summery.

"Mostly sunny, with a high near 80," the National Weather Service's forecast for Memorial Day states.

So, buck up — this weekend's rain likely will give way to a glorious unofficial start to summer.

Here's the complete National Weather Service forecast:

Wednesday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 66. East wind 7 to 10 mph becoming southeast in the afternoon.

Wednesday Night
Mostly cloudy, with a low around 55. Southeast wind 6 to 11 mph.

Thursday
Mostly cloudy, with a high near 66. Southeast wind 7 to 13 mph.

Thursday Night
A 30 percent chance of showers, mainly between 9pm and 3am. Cloudy, with a temperature rising to around 67 by 4am. Southeast wind 9 to 11 mph.

Friday
A slight chance of showers, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 3pm. Cloudy, with a high near 75. South wind 10 to 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Friday Night
Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 65. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

Saturday
A chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 77. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

Saturday Night
A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 9pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 63.

Sunday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 78.

Sunday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 64.

Memorial Day
Mostly sunny, with a high near 80.

Monday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 65.

Tuesday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 83.

Read the full AccuWeather report here.