LONG ISLAND, N.Y. — Mother Nature brought strong winds to Long Island Wednesday night, triggering a gale warning for mariners Thursday morning.
According to Brian Ciemnecki, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Upton, the gale warning is for mariners only – offshore winds are expected to reach 35 knots, or 40 miles per hour, on Thursday.
A gale warning is in effect Thursday for Long Island until 1 p.m., when that warning will change to a small craft advisory.
“We advise sailors not to go out on the water,” Ciemnecki said.
Wind gusts reached between 50 and 60 mph Wednesday night and about 40 to 50 mph in Nassau County. Those winds are expected to ease Thursday, he said.
Temperatures Thursday are expected to hover around 35 degrees across Long Island and a bit lower on the East End — with winds blowing to feel like they're in the teens and 20s, Ciemnecki said.
The wind left some without power Wednesday night. As of Thursday morning, 749 were still seeing outages, according to PSEG Long Island's outage map.
Thursday's highs are expected to reach the high 30s to low 40s, dropping to the low to mid 20s Thursday night, except in the Pine Barrens, where it will plummet into the teens, he said.
On Friday, temperatures will soar into the upper 40s, with weekend temperatures in the mid to upper 50s. Saturday's forecast calls for rain, with a chance of wet skies for Sunday as well, Ciemnecki said.
