'Hurricane' Schwartz: rain expected for Saturday, but not Sunday

Last week, we were watching the remnants of Tropical Storm Bill and how it would affect our weekend. There was a lot of rain, but fortunately, most of it fell Saturday night. That allowed for a number of dry daytime hours. A different type of storm will affect us this weekend. Will the timing help or hurt for outdoor activities?

Like last week, a large area of low pressure will track from near St. Louis and track near or just north of Philadelphia. This one doesn't have tropical moisture, but there's more than enough to produce heavy rain for at least part of our weekend. Here are the computer model maps for both Saturday and Sunday afternoon:

Saturday:

Sunday:

Watch the "L". It's near Pittsburgh Saturday and then moving into Southeast New York Sunday. That track - north of Philly - would lead to a much lower chance of rain for the second half of the weekend. It would also allow warmer air to move in Sunday, and even allow for some sunshine. A track south of Philly would lead to some rain Sunday morning and cooler weather too. But the trend has clearly been for the northern track - good news for Sunday!

There are some problems for Saturday, though. There WILL be rain moving in, and it certainly looks like the heaviest will be late in the day and at night. Computer models suggest between 1 and 3 inches of rain, plus possible thunderstorms. Once the rain starts, there will be many hours of it. This is not just a few showers. The best chance of dry weather Saturday is in the morning-the earlier the better for your outdoor activities.

Full forecasts:

Philly: Cloudy and cool. Rain developing-becoming heavy late in the day and at night. High 72. Chance of rain 40 percent in the morning, and near 100 percent by the evening.

Jersey Shore: Clouding up. Rain develops in the afternoon and becomes heavy at night. High 68. Chance of rain 20percent in the morning, and near 100 percent by the evening. Atlantic City ocean temp: 71.

Delaware beaches: Clouding up. Rain develops in the afternoon, and heavy by night. High 72. Chance of rain 40 percent in the morning, and 100 percent  by the evening.

Poconos: Rain, becoming heavy at times. Local flooding possible. Rainy at night, too. Chilly, with High 58. Chance of rain near 100 percent.

Philly: Clouds and sun. Warmer. High 78. Chance of rain 15 percent.

Jersey Shore: Sun and clouds. Warmer. High 78. Chance of rain 10 percent.

Delaware beaches: Sun and clouds. Warmer. High 83. Chance of rain 10 percent.

Poconos: Mostly cloudy. Chance of a shower. Not as chilly. High 67. Chance of rain 40 percent.