Forecast update: 2 inches or less of snow predicted

Fewer than 2 inches of snow, if that, were expected to coat Long Island overnight as bands of a storm's heaviest precipitation shifted slightly south Wednesday night, the National Weather Service said.

"It should be all over by the morning rush hour," meteorologist David Stark said at the Upton-based service. Precipitation was due late Wednesday night and was expected to taper off by early Thursday and disappear by about 4 a.m., he said.

Since Tuesday, snow accumulation had been downgraded a few times, from as much as 5 inches for the twin forks to perhaps 2 inches there in Wednesday night's update.

Compared with last week's blizzard, the accumulation "will seem like a walk in the park," said David Wally, also a meteorologist at the service.

Morning temperatures Thursday were expected to be in the low 30s, with highs in the low 40s, mostly sunny and winds at 5-10 mph.

With Gary Dymski

and Patricia Kitchen

SEE PHOTOSSnowstorms that buried LI over the past 100-plus years