The National Weather Service in Mount Holly has issued a flash flood watch for the Lehigh Valley and southern Poconos in northeast Pennsylvania from 2 p.m. today through this evening.

Showers and thunderstorms containing heavy downpours are expected to develop this afternoon. This activity may become better organized toward early evening and then weaken eventually late in the evening. While rainfall amounts area wide will generally average under one inch, locally heavy rainfall of 2

to 3 inches are possible where thunderstorms move over the same location.

Heavy rainfall within a short period of time can lead to rapidly rising water and flash flooding, particularly in urban areas, along small creeks and streams as the ground is already very saturated due to recent heavy rains over the past two weeks.

There is a potential for an additional round of locally heavy rainfall and flash flooding on Friday.

The latest forecast:

Today: A chance of showers before noon, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms between noon and 3pm, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 3 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 85. Light southwest wind. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

Tonight: Showers and thunderstorms likely before 4 am, then a slight chance of showers. Cloudy, with a low around 69. Calm wind. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.

Friday: A slight chance of showers, then showers and thunderstorms likely after 8 am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 80. Light south wind becoming southwest 5 to 9 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 70 percent. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

Friday Night: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 68. Southwest wind around 6 mph becoming calm after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.

Saturday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 85. Calm wind becoming west around 6 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 50 percent. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Saturday Night: A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms before 2am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 65. Chance of precipitation is 20 percent.

Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 86.

Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 67.

Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 87.