Rain, heavy at times, falls on Long Island amid drought conditions

With drought warnings on the rise and brush fires a near-daily occurrence, the National Weather Service is forecasting that the rain that fell Thursday morning will continue all day and possibly into the weekend.

Meteorologists say Thursday morning's rain will continue throughout the day. There is a 50% chance of rain for Friday. Gusty winds of up to 33 mph are also expected Thursday and Friday, with high temperatures in the mid-50s Thursday and mid-40s Friday, the weather service said, with a generally clear weekend on tap.

"Some storms could produce heavy rainfall," the weather service said Wednesday, adding that up to 2 inches of rain or more is possible — rain desperately needed in the metro area.

The U.S. Drought Monitor, which reports drought conditions across the United States, has deemed Long Island to be in moderate drought status and western Nassau and New York City to be in severe drought status, conditions that elevate the risk of brush fires.

This month, brush fires have broken out in several locations on Long Island, including Medford, Old Westbury, Yaphank and Riverhead.

Although there have been few reported brush fires on Long Island in recent days, the FDNY battled a large brush fire in Highbridge Park in upper Manhattan — first reported at 2:23 p.m. Tuesday. In an online statement, FDNY Deputy Chief Joseph Duggan said the first arriving units "were confronted with an extensive brush fire, approximately 10 to 15 acres."

Only trace amounts of precipitation have been recorded on Long Island since August, according to weather service records for Islip.

There was just 0.24 inches of precipitation recorded in September, compared with a normal average of about 3.6 inches, the weather service said. In October, there was just 0.12 inches of precipitation recorded at Islip, compared with a normal average of 3.97 inches.

So far in November, there's been just 0.23 inches recorded. The normal monthly average is 2.06 inches.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”