Long Island weather: Strong winds stay Wednesday with nor'easter gone, warmup coming

The two-day nor'easter has left the region, leaving strong winds in its wake that make it feel pretty darn cold for this time of year, forecasters said.

The high Wednesday is about 44 degrees but wind gusts of close to 40 mph left over from the storm are adding to the unusually chilly conditions for mid-March.

"Max temps this afternoon will mostly be in the lower and middle 40s, with perhaps a few upper 30s … The wind however will make it feel a good 10 degrees or so colder than what it reads on the thermometer," the National Weather Service said.

Wednesday night, the winds slow to about 30 mph, providing wind chills that make it feel like 20 to 25 degrees despite the low of 30 expected, forecasters said. 

During the storm, Bayville saw gusts of 50 mph in Nassau County on Tuesday evening, the weather service said, while Baiting Hollow in Suffolk experienced 58 mph gusts. In midtown Manhattan, the winds hit 50 mph.

As far as snow, northern New England may still be expecting a few more inches on top of the foot or more that some areas already have gotten, but Center Moriches in Suffolk leads Long Island with 2.2 inches of snow from the same storm.

Farmingdale in Nassau got 0.2 inches of snow. Manhattan’s Central Park got a trace.

And once again this winter, rain totals topped those for snow, with 1.43 inches falling in Hicksville in Nassau, 2.27 in Upton in Suffolk, and 0.75 in Central Park.

“There was very minimal erosion. We did see some at the Montauk area parks, again minor erosion,” said George Gorman, the Long Island regional director for the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

Some shingles blew off roofs and a few signs were knocked down, he said.

Warmer weather on the way

Wednesday’s skies will slowly clear as a high-pressure system, in which sinking air stops vapors from rising and condensing, settles in.

The winds should start calming around daybreak Thursday, and temperatures will begin “warming up a bit,” the weather service said, as westerly winds shift to blow from the west-southwest.

Highs around 50 degrees are expected.

Afternoon clouds will thicken overnight, and southwest breezes will intensify.

“This in combination with midlevel cloud cover should have temperatures running at least 10 degrees warmer than the previous night,” the weather service said.

Lows in the upper 30s are forecast.

Highs will be in the 50s again Friday and it will be even cloudier, as a low-pressure system travels to the Great Lakes from the Plains, pulling its cold front through the Ohio Valley.

While the odds of rain on Friday night are 50%, global models agree the area should be “primarily dry throughout the day,” the weather service said.

Saturday's rainfall odds before 9 a.m. are also 50%, and it will be cloudy, with highs around 50 degrees.

“The area will dry out late Saturday as high pressure starts to build in from the west,” the weather service said.

Clouds Saturday will then give way to sunshine from Sunday to Tuesday. Highs should be in the 40s.