Long Island prepares to enjoy the Fourth of July holiday, but watch the weather!

Long Islanders prepared to mark Independence Day with fireworks extravaganzas, parades, beach trips and barbecues, but unsettled weather may threaten some of those plans. 

The National Weather Service warned of possible showers and thunderstorms Tuesday evening, along with possibly life-threatening rip currents at South Shore beaches that makes swimming inadvisable.

Air quality, however, is forecast to be moderate. Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a news release Monday:  "After days of smoke-filled skies across New York, there is good news on the horizon: our forecasters currently expect air quality for tomorrow's July 4th celebrations will remain below concerning levels for both smoke and ozone in every region of the state." 

Despite the weather prediction, two of the biggest fireworks shows in the region, Jovia Financial Credit Union Fireworks Spectacular at Jones Beach and Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks from the East River in New York City, were scheduled to go on as planned. 

“Right now we are not making any changes: our plans are in place for the fireworks as scheduled,” said George Gorman, Long Island regional director of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, which manages Jones Beach and dozens of other state parks and beaches. 

The roughly 30-minute show Tuesday at Jones Beach will include a run-up detonating at least 3,245 shells and a grand finale detonating 3,500 shells, according to state records. The show is scheduled to start at 9:30 p.m.; there is a $10 per car park admission fee. 

NICE’s n88 bus will provide round-trip service every half hour beginning at 8:28 a.m. on Tuesday from the Freeport LIRR station to Jones Beach and back, as well as hourly service from the Rosa Parks Transit Center in Hempstead beginning at 9:37. Additional buses will be made available as needed and return trips from the West bathhouse will be offered. 

The Macy's show was scheduled to start 8 p.m. Tuesday, with fireworks launched from barges in the East River near Midtown Manhattan. In an email, event organizers said that rain would not stop the show, but in case of severe weather such as lightning, organizers might delay the start. 

Official viewing points include, in Manhattan, elevated portions of the FDR Drive with entry at 1st Avenue and 42nd Street, 1st Ave. and 20th Street; and 1st Ave. and 34th Street, which will have ADA access. In Queens, there will be viewing at Gantry Plaza State Park. In Brooklyn, there will be viewing at Newtown Barge Park, Transmitter Park and Marsha P. Johnson State Park. 

Parking will not be available near those sites, according to organizers, and NYPD listed dozens of scheduled road closures including the FDR between Montgomery Street in lower Manhattan and 63rd Street in Midtown. Many cross streets near the East River from Montgomery St. to East 53rd Street were also scheduled to be closed. All East River bridges will close to pedestrian and bike traffic at 7 p.m.; the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge will also close to vehicle traffic at 7 p.m. 

The show is free. No large backpacks, large coolers, lawn chairs, lawn blankets, umbrellas or alcoholic beverages are allowed in the viewing areas.

Organizers of other events scheduled for Tuesday afternoon or evening — including the Montauk Chamber of Commerce fireworks cruise and the concert and fireworks show at Catholic Health Amphitheater at Bald Hill — could not be reached. 

The annual re-enactment of the invasion of the Pines on Fire Island was scheduled to go on as planned at 2 p.m., said Bobby Bonanno, president of the Fire Island Pines Historical Preservation Society. That event commemorates the response by a patron dressed in drag who was denied service at a Pines establishment in 1976, he and his friends returned in force a week later via water taxi, all dressed in drag. Residents and visitors are scheduled to greet a ferry-load of performers at Pine Harbor.