Long Island witnesses wrath of Hurricane Ian

While Hurricane Ian is not a classical-looking hurricane, as the NHC is saying, “Ian continues to display hybrid tropical/extratropical characteristics, and the satellite appearance is increasingly taking on the pattern of an occluded low”, it will be making landfall in South Carolina this afternoon with wind gusts up to 90 mph right along the coast (check out the wind map in the 3rd image), a storm surge of 4 to 7 feet, and 4 to 8 inches of rain with locally higher amounts over 10 inches.

It will be rainy and windy tomorrow with around 2 to 3 inches of rain, with the highest amounts generally for southern and eastern areas. Wind gusts of 25 to 35 mph and occasional gusts as high as 40 mph are right along the south shore and east end. With the upper trough/low from Ian and a surface low developing and lingering, there is a chance of showers until around Wednesday morning. With the extended ENE to NE winds, minor to locally moderate coastal flooding will also occur.

The system off the coast of Africa will likely become Julia early next week, with a good chance of becoming a hurricane. While most of the ensembles show it curving northward towards the middle of the Atlantic, there has been a bit of a westward shift overnight. Also, there is a slight chance of another storm developing in the Caribbean next week. Still, the ensembles are a little less impressive than yesterday, and they also mostly show it heading more westward rather than curving northward. There is plenty of time to watch these potential systems, so there isn’t anything to worry about.

LONG ISLAND FORECAST:

– Today: Mostly cloudy in the morning and cloudy in the afternoon with highs in the low to mid-60s. Wind out of the NE and then ENE at 10 to 15 mph.
– Tonight: Cloudy and breezy with rain developing after midnight with lows in the mid-’50s. Wind out of the ENE at 10 to 20 mph.
– Tomorrow: Rain, moderate to heavy at times, windy, and excellent with highs around 60 degrees. Wind out the NE at 15 to 25 mph with gusts over 30 mph.
– Tomorrow night: Showers and windy with lows in the mid-’50s. Wind out the NE at 15 to 25 mph with gusts to 30 mph.
– Sunday: Cloudy and windy with a 50% chance of scattered showers with highs around 60 degrees. Wind out the NE at 15 to 25 mph with gusts over 30 mph.
– Monday: Cloudy and breezy with a 60% chance of showers with highs around 60 degrees. Wind out the NE at 15 to 20 mph with gusts to 25 mph.
– Tuesday: Cloudy and breezy with a 60% chance of showers with highs around 60 degrees. Wind out of the NNE at 10 to 20 mph.
– Wednesday: Any showers ending in the morning and then partly cloudy with highs in the mid-’60s. Wind out of the N at 10 to 15 mph.