LI Weather: Storm Could Cause Major Travel Problems For Christmas

LONG ISLAND, NY — Don't expect a White Christmas on Long Island this year, but don't be surprised if it's blisteringly cold.

An arctic blast is going to send temperatures plummeting over the weekend, and rain before that could make holiday travel difficult.

The area is likely to be hit by a strong storm Thursday and Friday, with heavy rain and gusty winds. This could lead to travel delays at airports, and create dangerous conditions on roads. Saturday will be clear, but frigid, with a high around 29 degrees, according to AccuWeather forecasts.

"This storm will likely become intense, feeding on the extremely sharp variation between the surging arctic air arriving from the Central states and relatively warm air across the southeastern U.S.," AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jon Porter said. "Major East Coast storms over the decades have occurred in this type of setup, bringing the risk for heavy snow and rain, gusty winds, coastal flooding, severe thunderstorms and even tornadoes on the southern side of the storm."

For those staying local, Christmas itself looks like it will be clear and sunny. But it will be one of the coldest Christmases on record, with a high around 28 degrees.

Most of the week will be clear and cool, until the storm moves in on Thursday. Here's the full week's forecast from the National Weather Service:

Today: Sunny, with a high near 39. West wind 11 to 13 mph.

Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 27. Wind chill values between 20 and 25. Northwest wind 8 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 39. Wind chill values between 20 and 30. Northwest wind 7 to 9 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 25. North wind 3 to 6 mph.

Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 40. North wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the afternoon.

Wednesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 29.

Thursday: A 50 percent chance of rain after 1 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 50.

Thursday Night: Rain. Low around 42. Chance of precipitation is 90 percent.

Friday: Rain. High near 57. Breezy. Chance of precipitation is 90 percent.

Friday Night: A chance of rain showers before 10 p.m., then a chance of snow showers between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 17. Breezy. Chance of precipitation is 50 percent.

Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 29. Breezy.

Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 17.

Christmas Day: Sunny, with a high near 28.