Published: September 25, 2008 01:36 pm         

Weather Watch

By MARK HANOK

Sure enough, exactly as we predicted, positively spectacular September weather continued for nearly two weeks, with sunny or partly sunny skies each day, following the combination of Hurricane Ike on the Texas Gulf Coast and much above normal temperatures in the northern Great Plains. Skies were brilliantly sunny all week, but the weather pattern will finally change this weekend, for the wrong reasons. Instead of low pressure moving from west to east, an ocean storm will actually back northwestward, and bring a steady rainfall from the mid-Atlantic states to the lower Hudson Valley and southern and eastern New England, especially on Friday and Saturday. Although we will finally get mostly cloudy skies on Friday and Saturday with even a few showers, most of the rain will stay to our south and east. A large ridge of high pressure centered over northern New England, will slide slowly eastward, while the ocean storm moves from southeast to northwest. Sk ies will be mostly cloudy in Otsego County on Friday, with occasional showers, as the heavy rain stays to the southeast of the Catskills; highs will be in the low 60’s.

As the low pushes northward on Saturday, drier air will arrive, and showers in the morning will give way to some partial sunshine in the afternoon, with highs around 70 degrees. On Sunday skies will be partly to mostly sunny, as above normal temperatures continue; highs from 70 to 75 degrees. As high pressure builds eastward from the Great Lakes, skies will be mostly sunny Monday and Tuesday, with highs in the mid- 60’s.

Mark Hanok is an Otegobased meteorologist. You can visit him on the World Wide Web at http://members. aol.com/weathergazette.