LI weather: Wintry precipitation late Thursday into Friday

Another bout of wintry precipitation is on the horizon for Long Island, with forecasters monitoring the potential for some snow Thursday night into Friday morning.

With showers possibly starting earlier, the Island could face some widespread rain toward the end of the Thursday evening commute, switching to a rain/snow mix early Friday with all snow expected by 6 a.m., said Faye Morrone, weather service meteorologist in Upton. At least that was how things were looking late Wednesday afternoon.

Snow could be wrapping up by around 7 or 8 a.m. Friday, she said, as skies remain cloudy and partly cloudy before the sun makes an appearance around late morning.

That means real-life conditions could end up meaning good news for a traditional, folklore approach to predicting the weather.

Because groundhogs Holtsville Hal and Malverne Mel are unlikely to see their shadows if it’s still snowing or cloudy Friday morning, tradition says we could see an early spring, rather than six more weeks of winter.

The Island could see 1 to 3 inches of accumulation, the weather service said, based on the Wednesday afternoon forecast.

Temperatures were expected to rise to the mid-40s Thursday, then cool down to the upper 20s early Friday. Later Friday, temperatures will warm up only to the low 30s.

As for the next chance for rain and snow — that would be Super Bowl Sunday.