Good Lettuce-Planting Weekend: Mid Hudson Valley Weather

The weekend is shaping up to feel classically spring.

The higher than average temperatures (Thursday was 10-15 degrees above average) will back off a little this weekend, bringing in highs in the 60s instead.

The meteor shower called the Lyrids peak Friday, but that rain and patchy fog will obscure our view. Still, skies should clear on Saturday, and by Saturday night maybe it will be possible to still see some of the meteors darting through the skies above the Hudson Valley. Sunday will be sunny and mild.

The weekend will be great weather for gardeners.

According to Annie Christian-Reuter, Community Horticulture Educator at the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rockland County, this would be a good weekend to put out cool-weather plants if you haven't already: lettuces, peas, leeks, radishes. Plant carrots! It's still too early for tender plants -- be they crops like tomatoes or eggplants or flowers like impatiens -- Mother's Day is the rule of thumb.

Find lots of great gardening resources on the CCE website.

Across America, Earth Day weekend will be accompanied by extreme weather in the Central United States.

"The flooding experienced over parts of Texas early this week may be a sign of things to come over a larger area of the nation. The weather pattern is going to get wild and crazy during the last part of April and into May," according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Henry Margusity.

Here's what the National Weather Service is predicting for western Dutchess County:

• Tonight-Cloudy. Showers likely with a chance of thunderstorms in the evening...then a chance of showers after midnight. Lows in the mid 50s. West winds around 5 mph...becoming northwest after midnight. Chance of rain 60 percent.
• Saturday-Partly sunny in the morning...then clearing. Not as warm with highs in the mid 60s. North winds 10 to 15 mph with gusts up to 25 mph.
• Saturday Night-Mostly clear. Much cooler with lows in the mid 30s. North winds 10 to 15 mph...diminishing to around 5 mph after midnight.
• Sunday-Sunny. Highs in the lower 60s. North winds around 5 mph... Becoming west in the afternoon.
• Sunday Night-Partly cloudy in the evening...then becoming mostly cloudy. Not as cool with lows in the mid 40s.

MAP: Last spring frost dates/Cornell