Fierce waves pound Long Island from Hurricane Lee, but storm's wrath expected further north

Fierce waves pounded ocean beaches Friday, just ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Lee, due to pass east of Long Island Saturday morning on its way north, meteorologists said.

The hurricane, now weakened to a Category 1 storm with 80 mph maximum sustained winds, was not expected to produce tropical storm conditions on Long Island. But it churned up ocean beach waters, making swimming dangerous through Saturday and delighting surfers who ignored the National Weather's Service's warnings about dangerous rip currents.

Lee is expected to pass by the region Saturday morning, likely about 275 miles east of Montauk Point at its "closest approach," the weather service service said. The storm was about 300 miles southeast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, as of 8 p.m. Friday and its outer bands were reaching southeast New England, the National Hurricane Center said.

George Gorman, Long Island regional director of the New York State Office of Parks, said on Friday that they were seeing 6 to 10 foot waves from Jones Beach, Robert Moses and Hither Hills in Montauk that would be around 2 to 3 foot waves under normal conditions.

Swimming was prohibited Friday and will be again prohibited on Saturday, Gorman said.  At Jones Beach, “the entire beachfront has flooded.”

It’s unclear whether swimming will be back on Sunday, the last day of the season with lifeguards on duty, he said.

“We’re hoping that Sunday the storm will move far enough up north that we’re not going to see any effects anymore,” Gorman said. “Then we’ll evaluate beachfront conditions, we’ll evaluate surf conditions, to determine if we can reauthorize swimming.”

A storm surge of between one and three feet was forecast. Winds were expected to gust up to 45 mph along eastern Long Island.

On Friday, surfers tried their luck at riding the giant swells at Lido Beach while at Smith Point County Park in Shirley, dozens stayed dry but were curious to get a glimpse of the sand and surf churned up by Lee. 

No one was in the water at Smith Point Friday, although some had ventured in Thursday. Instead, people stayed ashore to take in the mesmerizing view. 

“It doesn’t look that bad from here,” said Irene Sheridan, of Stony Brook, who sat watching the waves with her husband, Richard. "But if you’re standing underneath that thing coming over your head, it’s a different story.”

Some were content to watch from the boardwalk, including Christine DiPede, visiting family in the area. “It’s like art in motion,” she said, snapping photos on her phone. 

Others ventured closer to get a better glimpse, unfolding beach chairs — and quickly picking them up, after a rogue wave washed up high on the beach. 

“We don’t usually get waves like this,” said Barbara Bach of Centereach. “It’s amazing.”

Fred Christman of Holbrook was relieved to be enjoying the weather, rather than preparing for a direct impact from the hurricane. “It’s phenomenal,” he said. “If it were a category 3 or 4, and it was a bit closer, I wouldn’t be standing here — none of us would be standing here at this point.”

For Long Island, a high surf advisory was in effect until 8 p.m. Saturday, the weather service said, with a high rip tide current warning in effect through Saturday evening. The coastal flood advisory is in effect until 3 a.m. Sunday, when most of the storm conditions should start to subside.

With Ted Phillips