Long Island weather: Brewing storm brings rain, bitter cold nights

A massive winter storm bearing down on the Midwest will mean frigid nights, heavy rain and teeth-chattering gusts for Long Island, but anyone hoping for a snowy, Christmas-card type of Christmas, should head north. Otherwise, it's beginning to look a lot like a mostly rainy holiday weekend. 

Wednesday will be sunny across the Island with a high about 40 degrees and a wind chill making it feel more like between 20 and 30. Wednesday night brings increasing clouds and a low of 29, according to the National Weather Service.

“Any winter weather ahead of the system would be real brief at the onset and limited to northwest of New York City Thursday,” the forecasters said, predicting “very little to no snow accumulation … as temperatures rise quickly during the morning.”

For the metropolitan area other densely populated regions in the Northeast, the main threat from the winter bomb cyclone will be the rain and wind, according to Bob Oravec, a senior branch forecaster for the U.S. Weather Prediction Center. The freezing temperatures and buffeting winds may still make travel difficult at metropolitan-area airports.

An estimated 112.7 million people will travel 50 miles or more from Dec. 23 to Jan. 2, up by 3.6 million from last year and getting close to pre-pandemic levels, according to AAA, a provider of travel insurance. United Airlines Holdings Inc., Delta Air Lines Inc., American Airlines Group Inc. and Southwest Airlines Co. issued travel waivers for a vast swath of the country ahead of the storm, allowing passengers to rebook their upcoming holiday travel with no fees.

For Long Island on Thursday, there's a slight chance of showers before 1 p.m. with a high about 50 with a 70% chance of rain in the afternoon, climbing to 100% at night with gusts of up to 44 mph. Between one to two inches of rain is possible, according to the weather service.

Friday's forecast calls for highs in the mid-50s by 10 a.m. with showers through 1 p.m. The temperature is forecast to fall to 39 for the rest of the day before windy conditions at night and a low plunging to 15 degrees under mostly cloudy skies, the weather service said.

Coastal dwellers can expect two to four feet surges during Friday’s morning high tide, which could cause “widespread moderate to localized major coastal flooding along the South Shore of Long Island,” the weather service said. Minor to locally moderate coastal flooding is also possible Friday night.

The sun returns Saturday but the cold persists with a high of 26 and breezy conditions. Saturday night's low will dip to about 14. Christmas on Sunday will be sunny with a high of 28 and another cold night with a low about 18.