Long Island weather: Nor'easter packing 60 mph offshore winds; ferry cancels some service

A "significant" late-week nor’easter was expected to impact Long Island by Friday, likely bringing strong wind, coastal flooding, hazardous rip currents, high surf and beach erosion, meteorologists said.

By Thursday morning the system stretched off the Georgia coast to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. It was expected to intensify and move north and east, reaching Long Island by Friday night, spinning down after Saturday and leaving the area by Sunday.

"We are definitely going to have impacts on Long Island," said James Connolly, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Upton station.

By midday Thursday there remained, however, "track and intensity uncertainties with this system" that made it difficult to forecast how severe the local impacts would be, according to an early morning Weather Service briefing.

In an email, Newsday meteorologist Geoff Bansen said the storm’s track would be determined partly by its interactions with "one of the strongest highs of the year over the Great Lakes." High pressure systems can steer oncoming storms. They can also intensify them.

The weather service briefing called for widespread but moderate coastal flooding for southern Nassau County during high tides Friday through Saturday, with the greatest risk around 10 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday around Lindenhurst on the South Shore, and 11 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday around Kings Point on the North Shore.

Seas were projected to reach 9-13 feet, with gale conditions across inner ocean waters. Wind gusts were projected to hit 37 mph in Syosset and 48 mph in Montauk by Friday; for Saturday, gusts were projected at 37 mph in Syosset and 51 mph in Montauk. Gusts were projected to reach 61 mph in the Atlantic Ocean south of Montauk, 47 mph in Long Island Sound.

Those winds are strong enough to blow down tree limbs and blow around unsecured objects, and could down trees and power lines, the weather wervice said.

PSEG Long Island, the electrical utility, said in a news release Thursday that it was monitoring the storm and had performed "system and logistic checks" to ensure that customers who lose power would get it back as quickly as possible. The utility noted, though, that for safety reasons field crews do not make repairs during periods of high winds.

The Cross Sound Ferry canceled its trips on the half hour between Orient and New London, Connecticut, due to "impending weather and sea conditions," the operator said on its website. Almost all trips on the hour were operating for now, the operator said.

The Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Ferry is operating on a normal schedule Thursday, according to the operator's website. Some Captree fishing boats, including the Laura Lee Fleet, had trips canceled through Thursday, according to its website. Customers should check with their individual boat company for the latest updates on fishing trips.

A second weather wervice briefing was scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday.

Correction: An earlier version of this story said all Cross Sound Ferry trips were canceled.