Weather service cancels severe weather watch

The National Weather Service has canceled the severe weather watch for Long Island as a storm front moves east out of the area.

The thunderstorms did not materialize and only scattered showers remained after 10 p.m., said meteorologist Joey Picca.

Northern Nassau took the local brunt of a "considerable amount" of lightning and wind gusts of up to 35 mph, he said.

Conditions were right for hail, but so far, the service has not received any reports, he said.

Hail forms when strong upward drafts drive precipitation high enough into the freezing zones of the atmosphere. That turns water solid, and hail falls when the frozen water drops to the earth so quickly that the warm temperatures don't have time to melt them.

But don't count on the rain to bring dramatically cooler weather, forecasters said, as Wednesday's high is expected to be around 80.