Tropical Storm Watch Issued For LI With Elsa On The Way

LONG ISLAND, NY — A tropical storm watch has been issued for most of Long Island.

Tropical Storm Elsa will move over Georgia Wednesday night and through the Carolinas on Thursday, while weakening to a tropical depression. The storm will then re-intensify to tropical storm strength as it passes near or over the Mid-Atlantic coast late Thursday night, and near or over Long Island and southeast New England Friday, the National Weather Service says.

The main threats from Elsa on the island will be heavy rain capable of producing flash flooding, tropical storm force winds over 39 mph, especially along the South Shore, and associated marine and coastal hazards, including very rough seas and dangerous rip currents.

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There's a chance of rain all day Thursday on Long Island, but the bulk of the rain, up to 3 inches, will fall Thursday night into Friday afternoon, the weather service says.

A tropical storm watch is in effect for the entire island, except for northern Nassau County.

“In the mid-Atlantic and in southern New England, for many areas along and south and east of Interstate 95, Elsa will bring a 3-6 hour period of heavy rain, some of it wind-swept, that can lead to urban and poor drainage area flooding, as well as travel delays,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said.

PSEG Long Island employees are performing system checks and prepping for any potential outages.

“High winds can send debris flying, topple trees and bring down power lines,” said Michael Sullivan, senior director of transmission & distribution for PSEG LI.“Employees and contractors are prepared to respond to and restore any outages caused by the storm safely and as quickly as possible.”