HUDSON VALLEY, NY — Localized flash flooding is possible Friday afternoon into Friday night as showers and thunderstorms are expected across the region, where an air quality alert has joined the heat advisories.

"The bulk of the downpours may hit the Interstate 95 zone during part of the Friday afternoon rush hour and the weekend getaway time Friday evening," said Alex Sosnowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist. "The risk for flash flooding will be greatest along small streams and in places where downpours occur and repeat over the saturated ground. Flooding is also a possibility along some secondary rivers."

The flooding risk may continue on Saturday as additional showers and thunderstorms are possible.

While Saturday will be marginally cooler, with highs "only" in the upper 80s, temps will rise again the next day. Additional heat advisories may be needed Sunday into early next week, the NWS warned.

"It looks like a gradual return to sauna conditions for the Northeast in general from Sunday to Tuesday as high pressure builds over the nearby Atlantic," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Joe Lundberg said.

Seniors, young children and those with chronic health problems or mental health conditions are at an increased risk from the smog and/or the heat.

Summer heat can lead to the formation of ground-level ozone, a major component of photochemical smog. Automobile exhaust and out-of-state emission sources are the primary sources of ground-level ozone and are the most serious air pollution problems in the northeast. This surface pollutant should not be confused with the protective layer of ozone in the upper atmosphere.

Here's what the next 48 hours look like, per the National Weather Service.

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