Long Island weather: Rain expected to start overnight and continue through Saturday

After a clear but cool and cloudy Friday, rain is heading our way and Long Islanders could experience gusty winds, flooding and dune erosion this weekend and into early next week, the National Weather Service said.

While Long Island won't be directly impacted by the remnants of Hurricane Ian, according to the service, a "strong frontal system invigorated" by Ian is one of the main reasons for the gloomy precipitation outlook for New York.

It will "lift into the Middle Atlantic states Friday night and then stall just south of the region through early next week as a strong Canadian high-pressure system builds south through New England," according to a Weather Service forecast.

On Saturday, rain is expected on Long Island mainly before 5 p.m. with an 80% chance of precipitation. Rain totaling between 1 and 2 inches is possible, the weather service said Friday evening.

The high temperature for the day should be about 61 degrees. Gusts across eastern Long Island could be near 45 mph, with 35 to 40 mph possible across the rest of Long Island, coastal locations and New York City.

Saturday night into Sunday morning there will be more rain, mainly between 8 p.m. and 2 a.m., the weather service said. The chance of precipitation is 60%.

PSEG Long Island said Friday that winds would be strong enough during the weekend to possibly topple trees and bring down branches on wires, so it was carefully tracking the remnants of Ian, and encouraging customers to prepare for possible outages.

“We have performed system and logistic checks, and have a full complement of personnel who can jump into storm mode if needed," Mike Sullivan, vice president of Transmission and Distribution at PSEG Long Island, said in a news release Friday afternoon.

The Weather Service issued small craft advisories for both Long Island Sound and South Shore bays from 6 a.m. Saturday to 6 a.m. Sunday.

The service also warned there could be "isolated minor" coastal flooding along the southern bays of Nassau County and possibly Jamaica Bay on Saturday afternoon, and those areas could be near higher, moderate coastal flood bench marks during the Sunday and Monday afternoon high tides.

And, the weather service said, "Minor coastal flood impacts are possible along eastern great South Bay and Peconic and Gardiners Bay communities during this time."

Thanks to the clouds and then the rain and an approaching cold front, daytime temperatures will likely run cool, and even a bit below normal, until Wednesday, the weather service said.

Daytime highs may rise only to the low 60s, with nighttime lows descending no further than the low 50s. Temperatures should rise Wednesday and brush 70 degrees Thursday.