Severe thunderstorm hits Long Island, NWS says

A powerful thunderstorm tore through Long Island during Thursday afternoon's blistering heat wave, leaving fallen trees, downed wires and thousands of power outages in its wake.

While the worst of the storm passed by early evening, the National Weather Service in Upton extended a severe thunderstorm watch to 8 p.m. for most of the metropolitan area, including Nassau County.

The fast-moving storm swept across the region Thursday afternoon, bringing 70 mph wind gusts in some areas and "ping-pong size hail," the weather service said.

The weather service advised that the hail, which could be up to 1.5 inches, could cause injuries and damage roofs, siding, windows and vehicles.

PSEG Long Island was reporting about 2,400 customers were without power at 9:30 p.m. Thursday in Nassau and western Suffolk. At 5:20 p.m. more than 8,100 customers on the Island lacked power. 

"This afternoon’s fast-moving weather front continues to bring severe thunderstorms, strong winds and hail across Long Island and the Rockaways, toppling trees, limbs and wires," said PSEG spokeswoman Elizabeth Flagler. "Crews are responding and will continue to work through the night to restore outages safely and as quickly as possible."

Radar estimates show that a number of communities, including Manhasset, Brookville, Syosset and Huntington, had 2 to 3 inches of rain during the storm, according to weather service meteorologist Bill Goodman.

Meanwhile, the hot and humid conditions will continue Friday and through this weekend, the weather service said.

Temperatures Friday are expected to reach the low 90s while the heat index could hit the triple digits through Sunday, forecasters said. An isolated thunderstorm is possible north and west of New York City on Friday.

The weather service said dangerous rip currents are expected along the South Shore of Long Island from Friday afternoon through Friday evening. 

An air quality health advisory was issued for Friday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. for the metro area, including Long Island, by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. Ozone, which can be elevated by hot weather, is the pollutant of concern.

"People, especially young children, those who exercise outdoors, those involved in vigorous outdoor work and those who have respiratory disease (such as asthma) should consider limiting strenuous outdoor physical activity when ozone levels are the highest," a DEC statement said.

And don't expect much relief on Monday, when the heat index is expected to stay near 100 across Long Island and much of the region.

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.