Quantcast

Christmas Eve Storm To Bring Heavy Rain, Fog, Wind & Thunderstorms

National Weather Service
The National Weather Service is forecasting a Christmas Eve storm that will bring heavy rain, fog, winds and thunderstorms to Long Island Dec. 24, 2014. (Weather Radar Imagery: National Weather Service)

Long Islanders holding out hope for a White Christmas this year will be sadly disappointed, as will holiday travelers and last-minute shoppers planning on making the rounds tomorrow.

The National Weather Service is forecasting a very wet and very windy Christmas Eve.

Meteorologists with the agency predict temperatures in the low-to-mid 50s Wednesday with heavy rain, patchy fog, wind gusts and isolated thunderstorms throughout the morning, daytime and evening hours continuing into Thursday morning before clearing up in the afternoon on Christmas Day.

Temperatures will remain in the mid 50s Christmas Day and decrease precipitously thereafter, with lows into the mid-30s and upper-20s beginning late Thursday night into Friday morning, according to the forecasts. It will be breezy on Christmas, with a west wind of 18 to 21 miles per hour and gusts as high as 31 miles per hour. Chance of precipitation is 50 percent, says the weather service.

“A weak area of low pressure tracks just to the south and east of Long Island through tonight,” reads the NWS’ most recent outlook from Upton. “A stronger storm system will impact the region Christmas Eve through Christmas morning. A cold front will move across the region Christmas Day.”

Forecasters predict “The rain could be heavy at times” Wednesday night, with “patchy fog,” winds up to 22 miles per hour and precipitation amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.

The Service issued an offshore Gale Warning for the region Tuesday into Saturday night, foretelling of wind gusts up to 35 knots Wednesday night contributing to rough seas with waves growing between 7 and 12 feet sustained throughout Christmas Day and a chance of thunderstorms Christmas Eve night.

Be safe on those roads, Long Island.