Long Island weather: 'Enhanced risk' of severe storms Thursday
The National Weather Service is warning that Long Island faces "an enhanced risk" of severe thunderstorms Thursday afternoon into Thursday evening with high winds and possible hail.
"Severe thunderstorms are likely with damaging wind gusts of 60 mph orhigher, along with large hail as the primary threats. An isolatedtornado is also possible along with brief heavy rainfall," the weather service said in its hazardous weather outlook statement issued at 3:56 p.m. Wednesday.
The weather service says there is a 40% chance of those showers and thunderstorms taking place Thursday, mainly after 2 p.m., going up to 50% in the evening.
After a cooler, comfortable Wednesday in the high 70s, temperatures Thursday are expected to go back up to almost 90 degrees and remain hot for Friday.
Baldwin resident Memo Cadena enjoying the comfort of his beach chair while getting some sun on this bright sunny day on the boardwalk in Long Beach Wednesday. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
A small craft advisory is in effect Wednesday for all South Shore waters and the eastern Long Island Sound.
This is all weather ahead of the possible aftermath of Hurricane Laura, which is lurking now in the Gulf of Mexico. The remains of that storm are expected to hit the United States east of Houston then cut across the southern part of the country before reaching the metro area as a storm sometime late Saturday or early Sunday.
In addition to the strong chance of severe thunderstorms Thursday, forecasters are calling for thunderstorms Friday and Saturday on Long Island.
John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”
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