Long Island weather: Wet Tuesday evening commute

Looks like wet going in some spots as we head toward the evening commute, forecasters say. There’s also potential for embedded thunderstorms.

By midafternoon, areas of southern Nassau County and southwestern Suffolk were seeing moderate to briefly heavy rain, said Joe Pollina, National Weather Service meteorologist in Upton. Precipitation was expected to start tapering off around 8 p.m., but don’t expect dry skies until we get closer to midnight, he said.

Here’s how Rich Von Ohlen, News 12 meteorologist, put it: “Yucky weather as we go throughout the evening — it is not nice." In fact, rain could be “coming down in buckets,” he said.

And, as a reminder — all thunderstorms produce lightning. “If you hear thunder, you are close enough to be struck,” the weather service says.

By around 3 p.m., Long Island MacArthur Airport was reporting light rain and a temp of 68 degrees. The normal high for the day at the Ronkonkoma airport is 78, with 61 the normal low.

Maybe there’s a break in precipitation early Wednesday, Von Ohlen said, but back it comes for the afternoon.