Hudson Valley Holiday Forecast: When Storms Will Start, End

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — Heading into the long Memorial Day weekend, thunderstorms are expected Friday and Saturday, and if you're headed out of town, you might even have tornadoes to deal with.

On Friday afternoon and evening, the National Weather Service warns, heavy rain is expected and isolated storms could be severe.

"Some turbulent weather during the hours before the kickoff of Memorial Day weekend is poised to create dangerous situations and disrupt travel across the mid-Atlantic," said Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist.

The NWS issued two local hazardous outlooks for severe storms; the one for Orange, Putnam, Rockland and Westchester counties ranks it a "slight risk" and the one for Dutchess and Ulster ranks it a "marginal risk."

The main threat would be damaging wind gusts. Also, the storms will be capable of producing heavy downpours, plus some areas may experience multiple rounds of rain and thunderstorms. Therefore, there is a marginal risk for flash flooding resulting in urban and poor drainage flooding.

Local rainfall rates could reach an inch an hour, which will lead to poor visibility on highways as well as ponding on roadways.

If you're camping, be on the watch for rapidly rising streams.

The line of thunderstorms stretches 1,000 miles and has been wreaking havoc in the center of the country, AccuWeather meteorologists pointed out. There's a tornado watch in effect for Baltimore and Washington, DC.

The storms are expected to persist into Saturday, with rain and thunderstorms tapering off in the late afternoon.

The clouds are expected to clear out Saturday night, and Sunday and Monday will be hot and sunny.

Temps will be in the high 70s Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and then shoot up on Monday, creating summer-like conditions for wreath-laying ceremonies, parades and other events.

Here's an hour-by look at the kickoff to the weekend based on Rockland County: