Long Island Weather: Major Winter Storm Threatens the Weekend

Yes, we know, we know. Just last week, right around this same time, we posted a story with a headline of "Is a Weekend Winter Storm Brewing?" That storm obviously never materialized. So take this with grain of salt...forecasters say there's the potential for a major winter storm to impact the region Saturday night through Sunday.

"There is the potential for widespread accumulating snow and ice along and north of where the low tracks through parts of the Midwest and Northeast," weather.com says. "It's too early to know exactly what areas may see significant amounts of snow and/or ice."

At the moment, the National Weather Service says there's a 60 percent chance of rain and snow Saturday night and Sunday and a 40 percent chance of snow Sunday night.

Before we get to the weekend, a weaker storm system is likely to strike the island Thursday night into early Friday. Light snow amounts are anticipated, the NWS says.

No official snow total estimates have been released for the weekend, but the New York Post went with a full I gotta get the bread-and-milk headline Monday afternoon: NYC could get a foot of snow this weekend. But open up the story and Accuweather meteorologist Dave Dombek tells the Post the area could see anything from about an inch to over a foot of snow.

So certainly stay tuned for more details on the storm (make sure you are signed up for Patch news alerts) as confidence in the forecast increases in the days ahead. And keep the graphic below in mind.

The full forecast:

Tuesday- Mostly sunny, with a high near 38. Wind chill values between 20 and 30. Light northwest wind increasing to 5 to 10 mph in the morning.

Tuesday Night- Mostly clear, with a low around 24. Northwest wind around 6 mph becoming calm.

Wednesday- Sunny, with a high near 40. Wind chill values between 15 and 25. West wind 9 to 16 mph.

Wednesday Night- Mostly clear, with a low around 24. Northwest wind 10 to 13 mph.

Thursday- Mostly sunny, with a high near 34.

Thursday Night- Snow likely before 1am, then rain and snow likely, possibly mixed with sleet between 1am and 4am, then rain likely after 4am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 30. Chance of precipitation is 70%.

Friday- A 50 percent chance of rain before 9am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 43.

Friday Night- Partly cloudy, with a low around 27.

Saturday- A 30 percent chance of snow after 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 37.

Saturday Night- Rain and snow likely. Cloudy, with a low around 34. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Sunday- Rain and snow likely. Cloudy, with a high near 40. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Sunday Night- A 40 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 17.