Forecast: Papal Visit Good, Weekend Good, Eclipse Iffy

Flying to John F. Kennedy airport, Pope Francis shouldn’t have to deal with any travel-delaying weather Thursday afternoon.

Then on Friday, his only full day in the city, temperatures should be in the middle to upper 70s as the Holy Father meets with the United Nations General Assembly, where he is expected to discuss his stance on climate change, tours the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, talks with children at Our Lady Queen of Angels School in East Harlem, visits Central Park and holds a Mass at Madison Square Garden.

“On Friday sun will shine through some high clouds,” Accuweather Meteorologist Brett Rathbun said. “There will be no rain around, however, to dampen any activities.”

But the great weather may not hold for his time in Philly. The weather should initially make for easy air travel for the pope as he arrives in Philadelphia Saturday morning. However, rain could move into the city by Sunday, from the Atlantic storm expected to move up the East Coast.

That storm shouldn’t dampen the weekend in the lower Hudson Valley, where we can expect partly sunny days.

But Sunday night is forecast to be mostly cloudy. And that may dash sky-watchers’ chance of seeing the rare supermoon lunar eclipse Sunday night.

This light show in the sky is courtesy of two usually separate phenomena occurring at the the same time: As the moon will be in its closest proximity to Earth, it will appear up to 14 percent larger, and then the lunar eclipse will turn the moon red.

“It’s one of best astronomical events to witness without any equipment and we know exactly when it’s going to happen,” AccuWeather Meteorologist and Astronomy Blogger Dave Samuhel said.

The storm’s ultimate path will dictate which areas have an increase in cloud coverage.

“Boston has a much better chance for clear skies than Washington, D.C.,” Samuhel said.

Get hour to hour info: Click here for Nyack and Piermont’s in-depth weather forecast.

GRAPHIC: AccuWeather.com