Long Island weather: Wet evening rush hour expected

It’s going to be a wet Tuesday evening rush hour on Long Island.

As of a little past 4 p.m., rain had spread across much of the area, with a few scattered reports of rain mixing with sleet and snow, including at the National Weather Service’s Upton office, said Faye Barthold, who’s a meteorologist there.

Even those areas were switching to all rain, meaning wet conditions for the evening commute, she said. There could be “a bit of a break” in the rain overnight, but for the most part, people are wise to keep umbrellas close at hand right through Thursday.

As of late Tuesday afternoon, flight arrivals at Kennedy and LaGuardia airports were being delayed an average of half an hour and just over an hour, respectively, according to the Federal Aviation Administration’s website, with some departures also affected. Long Island MacArthur Airport was seeing some departure delays.

Travelers should check with their airlines, the FAA advised.

Thanks to strong winds and a recent full moon, localized minor coastal flooding can be expected during high tides Tuesday evening and into early morning Wednesday, the weather service said in a coastal flood statement. Both the North and South shores from central Suffolk westward could be impacted with minor flooding of the most vulnerable roads and properties.

Looking ahead to the Wednesday evening commute, that’s just around the time that the heaviest rain from a second storm system is expected, continuing into nighttime hours, Barthold said. Look for “heavy rain, strong, gusty winds and some minor tidal flooding around the times of high tide” Wednesday night, the weather service said. Gusts of up to 50 mph could also develop, with possible nighttime thunderstorms.

In all, around an inch and a half of precipitation is in the forecast through early Thursday afternoon.

With Gary Dymski