Long Island weather: Dense fog Tuesday night, storms Wednesday

Fog is rolling in across Long Island Tuesday evening, the National Weather Service said, with visibility in some places of a mile or less at times.

In an advisory issued before 6 p.m., the service warned: “The fog may also become locally dense at times. Motorists should be alert for rapidly changing visibilities.”

Light rain is also expected for Tuesday night, forecast to begin mostly around 9 to 10 p.m., the National Weather Service said, with patchy fog also in the mix.

Light rain could linger through around daybreak Wednesday, the first day of March, and possibly even into the early morning rush hour, said Tim Morrin, National Weather Service meteorologist in Upton.

That batch of rain then wraps up, with the potential for a sprinkle over the following hours. The next batch of showers and thunderstorms is expected for the afternoon, set to affect the evening rush, Morrin said.

That’s when there’s “a chance for severe thunderstorms Wednesday afternoon and evening,” with the main threat coming from “damaging wind gusts,” the weather service said in a hazardous outlook.

Afternoon winds could be about 20 mph, gusting into the 30s, the weather service said.

Still, there could be gusts of at least 58 mph, which is a defining element of a “severe thunderstorm,” Morrin said.

In all, an average of three-quarters of an inch of rain is possible, with higher amounts coming with any thunderstorm.

In addition to all that, Wednesday is expected to see high temperatures in the mid-60s, with the potential for breaking the record of 60 degrees, which was set in 2004, at Long Island MacArthur Airport.