STORM WATCH: Severe thunderstorm watch issued for Nassau County this evening

Good afternoon, Long Island. We are certainly at the driest part of our day, still tracking the chance for a few showers and thunderstorms into the evening, though. But right now, you're actually noticing some sunshine start to break out after the earlier showers that we had to start the day. So we've been talking about two rounds of rain. The first already came through. Now we're seeing breaks of sun temperatures up to around 70 degrees and it's breezy for sure with some wind gusts around 15 to 25 miles per hour. After six o'clock this evening, there will be an approaching strong line of thunderstorms. Now we do expect this to weaken over the Nassau and Suffolk counties. The one thing we just really have to keep an eye on is the chance for some strong wind, especially in Nassau County and northwest Suffolk as that line is moving in and beginning to weaken. Could still pop a few 40 to 60 mile per hour wind gusts between around six and eight o'clock this evening. But most of Long Island will avoid strong to severe thunderstorms. The rest of Long Island will just get off and on periods of moderate rain showers as we go throughout the evening and overnight hours as well. It's kind of going to be a rainy overnight. Certainly a bit windy to some wind gusts around 30 to 35 MPH during the overnight and into early on Saturday morning. But we'll start to dry out between figure around five and eight o'clock in the morning on Saturday. And then the focus is all just on how it's going to feel outside. So we're not looking at a lot of rain this evening, around a half inch or even less, figure a quarter to a half inch of rain. But we just have to watch for some damaging wind gusts as that initial line of thunderstorms approaches early this evening. So it feels like temperatures that will become a big story into the weekend as well. It's going to be a chilly feeling start on Saturday. It'll feel like the upper thirties to low forties in the afternoon. It will feel slightly better, but still quite chilly just compared to where temperatures have been. And then we get into the coldest part of the weekend, Sunday morning, where it will feel like the mid thirties at best early on. So tonight, cloudy showers after that storm chance ends after around eight o'clock, off and on rain during the overnight, and into early on Saturday morning. Still cool on Sunday, but a nice dry stretch of weather through really all of next week as it stands right now with highs back in the sixties starting Monday.