LI region to get break from major storms with Debby tracking to the west

The National Weather Service updated the track for Tropical Storm Debby late Wednesday morning, now predicting a reprieve for Long Island and the rest of the New York City metro area.

That's because the weather service believes Debby will track far to the west of the region, passing through Pennsylvania as it moves up the East Coast — then moving from Pennsylvania into upstate New York. Meteorologists still believe Long Island, especially Nassau County, will see some additional rainfall from activity along the outer edges of the storm system, but nothing close to the original predictions of "major rainfall" and flooding.

That's good news for New York City and Long Island, which were still recovering Wednesday from a Tuesday afternoon-into-overnight torrential downpour that dropped 5.48 inches of rain on the Bronx — and 4.66 inches of rain on Port Washington, 4.4 on Copiague, 4.37 on Dix Hills, 3.89 on West Islip, 3.52 on Muttontown and 3.41 on Great Neck — as the storm flooded roadways and a host of other low-lying areas, downing trees and creating transportation havoc.

That frontal system, which arrived unexpectedly ahead of the remnants of Debby, brought LaGuardia and Kennedy airports to standstills Tuesday and raised the risk of potential flash floods across the area. No major flooding incidents were being reported Wednesday.

The airports were recovering from overnight ground stops. While Long Island MacArthur Airport was showing no reported cancellations or delays, a scan of the Flight Tracker status showed 98 delayed flights and 63 cancellations at Kennedy Airport between 7 and 11 a.m. Wednesday, with 83 canceled flights and 75 delays into and out of LaGuardia during the same time period.

New York City Emergency Management said the Port Authority reported 1,374 cancellations and 974 delays overnight at its three metro-area airports — Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark — after the Federal Aviation Administration issued a series of ground stops amid storm conditions Tuesday. A number of flights were diverted en route to New York — due to those ground stops, as well as severe weather in other areas of the country.

The National Weather Service reported MacArthur received 2.63 inches of rain from the storm, while LaGuardia saw 1.88 inches and Kennedy got 0.66 inches.

The weather service said that while Long Island figures to now see far less rain than anticipated Friday and into Saturday, that doesn't mean the area is in the clear.

In fact, the weather service said there remains a 40% to 60% chance of rainfall Thursday, a 90% chance of rain Friday and a 50% chance on Saturday.

Rainfall totals have been, however, revised from an initial prediction of 2 to 5 inches or more Friday and Saturday across Long Island to about a half-inch to an inch each day. Wind predictions also have been downgraded, though the weather service said gusts approaching 30 mph remain possible.

Risks associated with Debby for Nassau and Suffolk have been reduced from moderate risk to marginal, the weather service said.

Overnight, Suffolk police reported several downed trees on residential streets, including in Port Jefferson on Barnum Avenue around 12:45 a.m., in Hauppauge on Old Willets Path near Rutland Gate around 2:05 a.m., and in Melville on Northcote Drive near Haddon Hall around 2:13 a.m.

Nassau police reported no major incidents or road closings Wednesday morning. The Long Island Rail Road reported minor delays.

Highs temperatures through Friday will hover in the mid-70s to about 80 through Saturday, a considerable cooling trend from recent days. The overnight lows will be in the high 60s to low 70s, according to the weather service.

The storm began flooding roads Tuesday during the evening commute, including parts of Sunrise Highway in East Massapequa and the Meadowbrook Parkway in Mineola, while bringing down trees in Commack, West Islip and East Hampton. Downed wires were reported in Massapequa Park and Babylon, Nassau and Suffolk police said.

'In the bull's-eye'

MTA chairman Janno Lieber said Tuesday evening in Brooklyn that the agency had pre-positioned crews to address possible track, signal and power challenges caused by flooding, washouts and downed trees. 

Gov. Kathy Hochul warned Tuesday that the metropolitan area was squarely "in the bull's-eye" of the looming double storm and, as a result, she had activated the state Emergency Operations Center for the remainder of the week and also activated 100 New York National Guard troops based at Kennedy Airport, Fort Hamilton and Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach. 

"Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations," the weather service said. "Creeks and streams may rise out of their banks. Flooding may occur in poor drainage and urban areas. Extensive street flooding and flooding of creeks and rivers are possible."

The weather service also warned of "life threatening" rip currents for anyone entering the surf zone across Long Island. PSEG Long Island reported 35 active outages late Tuesday affecting 526 people, according to the utility's online outage map.

As a Category 1 hurricane, Debby slammed into Florida earlier this week, causing massive flooding and leaving at least five dead.

Authorities said the toll included a woman and a 12-year-old who died in a storm-related car crash and a 13-year-old boy killed when a tree fell on a mobile home — both of those incidents near Gainesville, Florida.

In Georgia, authorities reported a 19-year-old was killed when a large tree fell onto the porch of a home.

With John Asbury