Long Island forecast: A gusty, rainy Monday on tap

Strong winds are expected to barrel across Long Island during the week’s opening stretch, forecasters said Sunday evening.

The area is set to see gusts of 35 to 50 mph from Sunday night through Monday evening. Isolated gusts could be around 55 mph. The Island is set to also see about an inch of rain that will taper off Monday night into Tuesday.

A wind advisory will be in effect from 2 p.m. Monday to early Tuesday morning, the National Weather Service said.

Joe Pollina, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service, said winds could bring down trees and some small to moderate-size branches, and there could be some isolated power outages.

“Of course, anything that's loose, any type of decorations they [residents] may have outside for anything, will be blown around,” he said in a phone interview.

Severe weather in the Midwest and Plains on Sunday disrupted travel at several major airports there, The Associated Press reported. As for New York-area airports, departure delays were averaging 34 minutes out of LaGuardia at 7:35 p.m. Sunday, with no arrival or departure delays reported at Kennedy or Newark Liberty airports, according to the FlightAware website, which tracks flight delays and cancellations.

Monday will see highs in the mid-50s on Long Island, Pollina said, while Tuesday’s highs are expected to be in the lower 40s, forecasters said. Wednesday will be colder, with highs in the upper 30s.

The next chance for precipitation will be next week, the weather service said.

By Tiffany Cusaac-Smith

tiffany.cusaac-smith@newsday.com@T_Cusaac

Tiffany Cusaac-Smith is a general assignment reporter for Newsday. She previously worked at USA TODAY and is an alum of Howard University.