Coastal flood, wind advisories expire

Driving, teeming rains and howling winds made for a miserable morning Wednesday, but by the afternoon a wind advisory for Suffolk and a coastal flood advisory for Long Island had expired.

The coastal flood advisory had been issued for the Long Island Sound, as well as for South Shore bays and beaches, where the weather service warned breaking waves of 7-to-11 feet could cause beach erosion. The time of concern was between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. on the South Shore and between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on the North Shore.

Low-lying and poor-drainage areas were vulnerable, as are road surfaces subject to ponding, the weather service said, also warning of potential "flooding of the most-vulnerable shore roads and/or basements due to height of storm tide or wave splash-over."

In addition, a wind advisory for Suffolk was issued until 1 p.m. The Upton-based service said that wind gusts have been reported as high as 53 mph, at Lido Beach as late as 7:15 a.m. At Long Island MacArthur Airport, the highest gust of 48 mph was recorded at 5:20 a.m.

Meteorologist Joey Picca of the service said wind speeds from southwest should drop to the 30 mph range after noon.

The Long Island Power Authority reported more than 1,500 customers without electricity Wednesday morning, but by early afternoon the number had dropped to a little more than 200.

At Kennedy and LaGuardia airports, the nasty weather created delays.

Each airport had gate holds and taxi delays up to about 90 minutes, said the Federal Aviation Administration website. Also, general departure and arrival delays were at 15 minutes ore less, the site said.

Departure and arrival delays at MacArthur also were 15 minutes or less for morning flights.

Hitting us are the remnants of a weakening storm that piled up snow Monday and early Tuesday across the Great Plains and parts of Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan. Forecasters said that system fizzled out by the time it reached Long Island -- but mostly only in terms of snow.