Mother Nature unleashed a cruel one-two punch on Long Island this week when it pounded the region with more than a foot of snow Tuesday and then ushered in an arctic blast that sent temperatures plunging to sub-zero levels.
Long Islanders woke up Thursday morning to wind chills between zero to 10 below, the Upton-based National Weather Service said in a special weather statement.
Temperatures could rise to 15 to 20 degrees Thursday but are expected to remain in the mid-teens through Friday, forecasters said.
Another arctic cold front will move across the area Thursday night, sending temperatures into the single digits and producing wind chills from 5 to 15 below zero, the weather service said.
The agency warned that the prolonged cold and wind could lead to hypothermia and frostbite. The brutal cold could also freeze and damage water pipes.
Forecasters expect a frontal system to roll in Saturday and slightly increase temperatures to a high of 32 degrees. But a reprieve from the biting cold is nowhere in sight.
Bundle up because the weather service is predicting a high of 27 on Sunday, 33 on Monday, 20 on Tuesday and 25 on Wednesday.
And if that’s not enough, forecasters are also calling for scattered snow showers Saturday that could dump up to 2 inches of snow.
“The frozen ground and moderately strong winds could result in significantly reduced visibilities and hazardous travel conditions,” the NWS said.
The arctic blast comes on the heels of a winter storm that blanketed LI with more than a foot of snow in some areas, causing massive traffic jams on major roads, led to flight cancellations and forced the Long Island Rail Road to operate on a weekend schedule Wednesday. The LIRR returned to regular services on Thursday and wasn’t reporting any weather related delays in the morning.
