Heavy rain possible for Long Island

Some nasty storms to the west are expected to bring drenching rains to Long Island starting Tuesday evening, the National Weather Service said.

While the slow-moving front in the Midwest delivered wind gusts, hail and severe thunderstorms to some areas Monday, the system is expected to weaken as it moves east, said Brian Ciemnecki, a meteorologist with the Upton-based service.

"An area of low pressure will develop and still give the area a pretty good rainfall," Ciemnecki said Monday of the Long Island forecast. Rain should start falling after 5 p.m. Tuesday and end early Wednesday.

Total rainfall amounts of 1 to 2 inches are likely, the service said in a weather advisory, and "rates may exceed 1 inch per hour which could result in flash flooding in flood-prone areas."

Ciemnecki said it's still early to tell which parts of Long Island will be hit the hardest, but the service did warn of heavy rain for most of Suffolk and Nassau counties. The storm likely will drop rain as far north as Connecticut and the Hudson Valley and as far west as central New Jersey, the service said.

The heaviest rainfall likely will be early evening and into the overnight period, Ciemnecki said.

"By Wednesday morning, there might be some leftover showers but probably not too heavy," he said.