'Serious Situation' As Remnants Of Ida Near Long Island

LONG ISLAND, NY ? Days after making landfall on the Gulf Coast as a major hurricane, the remnants of Ida, now a tropical depression, will dump several inches of rain on Long Island Wednesday and Thursday. A flash flood watch is in effect for the entire island until 2 p.m. Thursday.

Rain is possible throughout Wednesday, but the bulk of the rain will come over a 12-hour period from about 8 p.m. Wednesday to 8 a.m. Thursday, the National Weather Service says. A total of 3-6 inches of rain, which could fall at a rate of 1-2 inches an hour overnight, is expected on the island.

There is a moderate-to-high risk of excessive rainfall leading to flash flooding. There's also a chance of thunderstorms late Wednesday afternoon into early Thursday. Damaging winds and brief isolated tornadoes are possible.

"This is the type of situation where tornadoes can spin up quickly with little notice and can be obscured by heavy rainfall," AccuWeather Meteorologist Renee Duff says.

Some wind gusts could topple trees with rain-soaked root systems, possibly bringing down power lines and causing outages, according to PSEG Long Island.

The rain should begin to taper off Thursday morning into the early afternoon from west to east.

The good news: Labor Day weekend is looking dry with sunny skies and temperatures in the upper-70s to low-80s expected each day.

The full forecast:

Wednesday- Showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 5pm. High near 75. Light northeast wind becoming east 6 to 11 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Wednesday Night- Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Some of the storms could produce gusty winds and heavy rain. Low around 62. East wind around 14 mph becoming south after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 31 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New rainfall amounts between 2 and 3 inches possible.

Thursday- Rain, mainly before 11am. The rain could be heavy at times. High near 71. North wind 15 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 34 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.

Thursday Night- Partly cloudy, with a low around 59. North wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Friday- Sunny, with a high near 75. North wind 14 to 17 mph.

Friday Night- Mostly clear, with a low around 61.

Saturday- Sunny, with a high near 77.

Saturday Night- Partly cloudy, with a low around 65.

Sunday- Partly sunny, with a high near 78.

Sunday Night- A 30 percent chance of showers after midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 67.

Labor Day- Mostly sunny, with a high near 81.