High wind watch issued for WNY

A more widespread wind threat cranks up early Thursday morning as the center of the storm system continues to strengthen over Lake MI.

Strong winds up to 50 mph were reported in Chicago as a portion of the Chicago Skyway was closed for 13 hours because of high winds and debris from a nearby construction site being blown onto the Skyway. With gusty winds and scattered showers, temperatures will hover in the lower 50s and lows tonight will drop into the upper 30s. With rain and snow chances around now, get the FREE Local4Casters Weather and Storm Pins apps free in your app store under WDIV. As this system approaches the East Coast tomorrow, it will take a turn toward the north, and lose a lot of its “oomph”… The good news is temps near 60 degrees Sunday through Thursday.

A red flag warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring or will shortly.

A round of showers will sweep through the Garden State during the daytime hours on Thursday.

Southwesterly winds will strengthen this morning as a cold front moves through.

Seas along our coast will build to 15-18 feet Friday afternoon, then swell to 19-22 feet on Friday night before subsiding Saturday.

Conditions begin to improve Friday night.

“We also stay in contact with other utility companies farther west, such as Consumers, which are also in the path of the storm so we can see what kind of damage they’re seeing”.

The upcoming weekend is look absolutely gorgeous and seasonable.

Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 52. Temperatures will likely fall back to the low 50s.

Forecasters on Monday warned 63 million people in the central U.S.to have an eye out for bad weather this week as colliding air masses threaten to generate high winds and possibly tornadoes.

One more note… The effects of now-Hurricane Kate are starting to be felt in Bermuda today.

Severe thunderstorms are in the forecast for parts of the Midwest and South on Wednesday.