Heavy rain headed for the Mahoning Valley this afternoon and evening

There is a break from heavy thunderstorms and the heat, but Mahoning Valley residents won’t get that relief until Friday morning.

There is a “good chance” of severe thunderstorms, including hail and damaging winds, probably starting about 2 p.m. today, said Mark Adams, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Cleveland.

The rain will fall on and off between then and 8 a.m. Friday, he said.

As for how much, Adams said some areas could see a couple of inches of rain by Friday morning.

There is a flash flood watch for the Valley today until midnight, he said.

There was only a trace of rain between 8 a.m. Wednesday and 8 a.m. today, he said.

But 1.21 inches of rain fell Tuesday at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport in Vienna, the services’ official weather measuring location for the Valley. Some local areas were hit harder Tuesday with Craig Beach receiving 2.88 inches of rain.

It will be muggy today with a high in the upper 80s.

However high temperatures will drop into the low to mid-80s from Friday to Wednesday with dry weather, Adams said.

As of this morning, 2.04 inches of rain fell at the airport since Aug. 1. The normal for the first nine days of August for this area is 0.89 of an inch.