Storms with wind gusts up to 40 mph could dampen New Year's Eve celebrations

Showers and thunderstorms are predicted for New Year's Eve and overnight, before strong winds Wednesday, and, by Thursday, a sharp drop in temperatures will greet Long Islanders in the new year.

"A quick moving low pressure system will bring a two to four hour period of moderate to heavy rain and embedded thunderstorms between 8pm and 2am tonight," a National Weather Service advisory said Tuesday evening.

The advisory warned of possibly strong thunderstorms Tuesday night with wind gusts to 40 mph, moving northeast 30 to 40 mph, mainly for New York City and Long Island.

"Primary threat timeframe for NYC metro is 9pm to 11pm. Keep in mind, cloud to ground lightning could develop overhead with little to no warning," the advisory said.

More than an inch of rain is expected.

Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a news release Tuesday: "Those attending festivities in Times Square should expect to be impacted with heavy rain and plan accordingly."

The rain is expected to stop early Wednesday morning. But strong winds are also forecast for Wednesday into Thursday with 20 to 30 mph sustained winds and gusts of between 45 mph and 50 mph, the weather service said. There is a wind advisory from 3 p.m. Wednesday to 10 p.m. Thursday.

Skies will remain dry but will dip to highs in the low 40s on Thursday as the mercury takes a sharp dive. Temperatures in the high 30s are forecast for Friday and the low 30s on Saturday and Sunday.