Tornado watch lifted for Nassau, NYC

A tornado watch for Nassau County and all of New York City was lifted shortly after 6 p.m. Wednesday, the National Weather Service said.

"The conditions favorable to a tornado have diminished," meteorologist Lauren Nash of the agency's Upton office said.

A tornado watch is an alert to the possibility that a tornado may develop in the area.

The watch was issued at 1:06 p.m. Wednesday.

It came after an earlier issuance of a hazardous weather outlook statement that warned of a "slight risk" for severe thunderstorms Wednesday on the North Shore of Nassau and Suffolk. The weather service also advised of dangerous rip currents at South Shore ocean beaches Wednesday.

A cold front moving through the region was behind the unsettling forecasts, the weather service said.

Temperatures were expected to soar into the mid-80s, with winds in the mid- to upper teens.

The rip current risk runs from afternoon to evening.

The weather service warned bathers: "Pay attention to flags and posted signs and swim in the lifeguarded areas."

Surf height is predicted at 2 to 4 feet in Nassau, western Suffolk and Queens ocean beaches, with wave heights of 3 to 5 feet predicted for eastern Suffolk. There also is a moderate risk of lightning.

The strange weather day began with the weather service issuing advisories about early-morning areas of dense fog, which created treacherous driving conditions in some locales. Forecasters also advised that Wednesday's weather is likely to bring us relief from humid air in the next few days.

The service is predicting a high of about 74 degrees Thursday with breezes of between 14 and 22 mph. Clear skies and temperatures in the mid- to upper 70s are expected into next week, with overnight lows dipping into the low 60s.

Wednesday marks the start of hurricane season, by the way -- though none so far are predicted.

However, then came the issuance of the tornado watch.

With William Murphy