Long Island Weather: First Snowfall Estimates Released

The National Weather Service is out with its first snowfall total estimates for Thursday. There's good news and bad news for Long Islanders who hate snow. Let's get the bad out of the way first: the odds of snow impacting the region are rising. The good: at least for the moment, it doesn't look like we are going to get the walloping snowstorm that could bury parts of New England in two feet of snow.

The NWS is predicting a total of 3-4 inches for most of Long Island. The South Fork is in line for 4-6 inches. Snow is expected to start falling early Thursday and end Thursday night. Check out the maps below that show the odds of various amounts of snow on the island.

The NWS says there is still a low chance of at least six inches of accumulation across the island. But there's also a 40 percent chance that we won't see any snow at all.

"The degree of uncertainty that remains could radically change this forecast," New York's NWS office said in a forecast discussion Monday night.

It will "warm" up a bit on the island by Wednesday with a high near 29 degrees, but the bottom will drop out again Friday when the high will around the 13-degree mark.

The full forecast:

Monday Night- Mostly clear, with a low around 11. Wind chill values between -5 and zero. West wind 9 to 13 mph.

Tuesday- Sunny, with a high near 22. Wind chill values between -5 and 5. Northwest wind 13 to 15 mph.

Tuesday Night- Mostly clear, with a low around 13. Wind chill values between 5 and 10. West wind 7 to 13 mph.

Wednesday- Mostly sunny, with a high near 29. Wind chill values between 5 and 15. West wind 5 to 7 mph.

Wednesday Night- A 50 percent chance of snow, mainly after 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 23. Calm wind becoming north 5 to 9 mph after midnight.

Thursday- Snow likely. Cloudy, with a high near 30. Blustery. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.

Thursday Night- A 50 percent chance of snow before 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 10. Blustery.

Friday- Partly sunny and cold, with a high near 13. Blustery.

Friday Night- Partly cloudy, with a low around 4. Blustery.

Saturday- Mostly sunny and cold, with a high near 13.