Long Island under wind advisory through Thursday morning; up to 60 mph gusts

Long Island is expected to see damaging winds with isolated gusts up to 60 mph from a cold front moving in Wednesday night into Thursday, the National Weather Service said.

The front will stir up winds Wednesday afternoon despite highs in the low 60s, weather service meteorologist James Connolly said, with overnight bringing the strongest gusts.

Long Island and the region is under a wind advisory through 8 a.m. Thursday with sustained winds of 20 mph to 35 mph and gusts of 55 mph, with some as high as 60 mph.

Temperatures will drop as the cold front arrives.

"It will bring in a colder air mass for tomorrow, and tomorrow's high temperatures will be in the 50s," Connolly said. The weather service said it will be gusty Thursday as well with winds up to 38 mph and possible areas of frost Thursday night.

Temperatures will slightly increase by Friday with highs in the low 60s but it will still be breezy, up to 26 mph Another front will bring rain Friday night through the weekend.

The weather service said that winds could blow down trees and power lines and widespread power outages are possible. Travel could also be difficult, especially for high profile vehicles.

Connolly said that "essentially all of Long Island" will feel the winds as opposed to one place in particular.

"There's really no difference whether you're east or west," he said. "The entire place is pretty much uniform that they'll see the strong gusty winds."

Richard Henderson, senior director of Electric Operations at PSEG Long Island said in a statement that the company "is closely monitoring this weather front, and we are prepared for potential impacts on the electric system."

The state banned empty tractor trailers and tandem trucks from using seven bridges at 8 a.m. Wednesday through 4 a.m. Thursday. The seven bridges where the ban will be in effect are: Bronx-Whitestone Bridge, Cross Bay Bridge, Henry Hudson Bridge, Marine Parkway Bridge, Robert F. Kennedy Bridge, Throgs Neck Bridge and the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge.