The winter storm forecast to hit Long Island on Thanksgiving eve may dump more snow on parts of the region than originally predicted—likely further snarling traffic on the biggest travel day of the year.
The National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory for the North Shore of Nassau County between 7 a.m. Wednesday and 1 a.m. Thursday, when the area may see up to 5 inches of snow, forecasters said. Two-to-four inches of snow is forecast for much Nassau and northwestern Suffolk—with less than an inch predicted for the East End.
“A mixture of rain and snow Wednesday morning should change to all snow by late afternoon,” meteorologists with the agency’s Upton office said in a statement. “The snowfall will significantly impact holiday travel…making driving dangerous at times.”
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The storm is forecast to dump even more snow on New England and upstate as well as impact much of the East Coast. The heavy snow is likely to down trees and limbs, causing power outages—aside from canceling flights and making driving dangerous.
The precipitation is predicted to start as rain after 2 a.m. Wednesday morning before turning to a mix of rain and snow after 10 a.m. After 1 p.m., the precipitation is expected to be all snow and should taper off around 10 p.m. Temperatures are forecast to be around 35 with a wind chill making it feel as low as 25 before dropping down to 33 at night.
A slight chance of snow and rain showers are also forecast for Thanksgiving morning, when temps are expected to be in the 40s—same as Black Friday and the rest of the weekend, which will waver between cloudy and sunny.
The weather for Manhattan on Thursday is key to whether the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade giant floats can proceed or not, but the latest forecast indicates that wind will not be stronger than the 23 mph threshold that New York City regulations bar the balloons from operating.
