Up to 4 Inches of April Snow on Its Way to Long Island

UPDATE 10 p.m. Thursday: Saturday Snow Predictions Go Bust

If April showers bring May flowers, what does April snow bring?

In what is turning out to be a downright miserable start to the month weather-wise, the National Weather Service says Long Island may see 2-4 inches of snow accumulation on Saturday.

NWS snowfall maps project 2-3 inches for Nassau and western Suffolk; and 3-4 inches for eastern Suffolk. There's currently about a 40 percent chance of more than 2 inches of snow in Nassau and a 50 percent chance in Suffolk.

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We'll get to more details on the wintry weather this weekend, but here's what we will be dealing with on Thursday: The National Weather Service has issued a wind advisory for the entire island, in effect from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m. Winds of 30 mph will gust up to 50 mph, which could bring down limbs and weakened trees, the advisory says.

There's a chance of showers before noon on Thursday and then showers and possibly a thunderstorm between noon and 3 p.m. Rain will remain likely into Thursday night, but the heaviest precipitation is expected in the afternoon, the NWS says. Up to an inch of rain may fall on Thursday. The high on Thursday will be near 60 degrees.

There will be a 20 percent chance of isolated showers on Friday, with a high temperature around 50.

Saturday is when things get interesting, if you consider snow in April "interesting."

Snow is likely before noon. A mix of rain and snow is expected between noon and 3 p.m. and then snow is likely once again after 3 p.m., the NWS says. The snow will taper off from west to east Saturday night. Temperatures will struggle to top 40 during the day Saturday and then will drop below below freezing at night.

Sunday is expected to be dry and sunny with temperatures in the mid-40s.

Here's what Joe Cioffi, a meteorologist for WPIX-TV and FiOS1 News, said in a Facebook video (watch it in full below) Thursday morning of this weekend's snow forecast:

"You are going to go from spots that have next to nothing to spots that might have a few inches. I'm still not overly impressed by all this. There's a lot here that could happen, but it's just going to be so localized. I don't think this is going to be the kind of thing where everyone gets a uniform amount."