Hurricane Sandy Tracks Toward Long Island

Long Island should cast a wary eye toward Hurricane Sandy.

The 105-mph storm currently churning in the Caribbean is expected to move up the East Coast and make a left hook toward Long Island, according to the latest forecast from the National Hurricane Center.

The Thursday 8 a.m. update places the storm just off the Bahamian coast. The forecast cone has Sandy off Atlantic City, N.J. by 8 a.m. Tuesday with Long Island squarely in its probablity range.

Earlier on Wednesday, officials believed the storm could possibly just head out to sea and leave Long Island unscathed. But the forecast has changed – and heavy winds and rain, flooding, coastal erosion, and downed power lines are possible.

"It does look like Long Island will have some impacts from this system," Peter Wichrowski, meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Upton, said Wednesday evening. "As for the exact details and how it all evolves, it's still a big question mark."

Heavy rains and flooding that could cause beach erosion could impact the area over the weekend and through Tuesday, according to David Stark, meteorologist for the National Weather Service office in Upton.

"The official track has it moving northward across the Bahamas, and then, eventually, it looks like it begins to turn toward the northeast out over the western Atlantic," Wichrowski said. "At that point, the official forecast does bring it back towards Long Island."

The storm will run "well to the east of the mid-Atlantic, North Carolina area" over the weekend, Wichrowski said. By Monday or Tuesday, it is expected to make a turn toward Long Island, or just east of the area.

But, Wichrowski  added, there are "a lot of different solutions and scenarios" that could evolve. "This is a complex storm, and we're talking a good five or six days away. At this point, I would say there is definitely the potential for a significant storm approaching Long Island or New England."

The storm, he added, would mean strong winds of between 30-50 mph or higher, heavy rainfall, and downed trees and power lines.

Earlier on Wednesday, Stark said whether or not the Long Island area would be affected would ultimately depend on the eventual track and evolution of Sandy as it interacts with a deepening upper level low pressure system approaching the East Coast; experts at first said that the storm could just move out to sea and have little impact on the area weather.

With Lisa Finn and Jason Molinet

For more stories like these, follow the Weather group!