Storms may slow Labor Day weekend travel in Northeast, but much of US to enjoy decent weather

NEW YORK — The Labor Day weekend weather forecast remains mostly optimistic, but some areas face a thunderstorm threat and potential travel disruptions.

As a line of showers and thunderstorms moves east from the Great Lakes into the Northeast, there may be a few severe storms with damaging winds and scattered hail Saturday afternoon.

The most likely area for severe weather stretches from Binghamton, New York, to Charleston, West Virginia.

Most of the action looks to stay to the west of the I-95 corridor during the day, but a few cities such as Philadelphia and New York could see a leftover shower and thunderstorm overnight.

Although this will not be a widespread severe weather event, these showers could still cause some brief delays to airports or highways in the northeast later Saturday.

The Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast is also expected to face periods of rain throughout this holiday weekend.

While unlikely to cause significant impacts, flooding is possible in southern Louisiana, where a Flood Watch remains in effect for the New Orleans area and the Mississippi River Delta. Houston may see a few scattered downpours this weekend as well, but most of the action will likely stay to their east.

It won’t be raining at every point this weekend, but waves of rainfall will be moving in off the Gulf periodically.

In terms of rain totals, 3 to 5 inches are expected along the coast of Louisiana and parts of the upper Texas coast over the next few days.

Over in the Atlantic, action is beginning to ramp up in time for September, which is typically the most active month for storm activity in this region. The area of interest in the central Atlantic currently has a 50% chance of developing into a named storm over the next seven days.

Computer model projections are also showing this storm moving into the Caribbean Sea and strengthening into a tropical cyclone. However, the storm has a near zero likelihood of developing over the next two days, so holiday weekend plans remain safe.

This storm was also being followed by a tropical wave, but the National Hurricane Center has dropped its development to a 10% chance.