Long Island weather: Warm temps, strong winds and downpours for Thursday

Low pressure is moving into the region Wednesday night, bringing with it warmer temperatures, strong winds and heavy downpours that have the National Weather Service issuing a flood watch for Thursday.

"A total of 1.25 to 2.25 inches of rainfall with locally higher amounts possible in any stronger convection on Thursday. Flash flooding of suburban and poor drainage areas, as well as small streams, will therefore be possible Thursday," the service said in a Wednesday afternoon advisory.

Increasing winds from the south could also lead to local minor to moderate coastal flooding for Thursday’s high tide cycle, primarily for the South Shore bays of western Long Island, the weather service said. It predicted seas of up to 18 feet on the ocean and three to five feet on the eastern Long Island Sound for Thursday and issued a gale warning for all of the region's waters.

In a 5 p.m. briefing, the service predicted 20- to 30-mph winds, with gusts of 50 mph and possible thunderstorms for Thursday morning.

Temperatures that went into the 40s Wednesday will rise overnight into the mid-50s by midmorning, the service said.

That's a major rebound from wind chills below zero earlier in the week.

Friday brings sunny skies and colder weather, with high temperatures in the mid-30s and a chance of “flurries or a passing snow shower,” said Rich Hoffman, News 12 Long Island meteorologist.