Long Island Needs To Prepare For Henri: FEMA

LONG ISLAND, NY — Henri is expected to come menacingly close to Long Island as a hurricane over the weekend.

"If you are in the Northeast, you need to prepare for Tropical Storm Henri," the Federal Emergency Management Agency Storm said in a Tweet Thursday. "Storm surge, flooding & high winds will affect parts of New England and Long Island this weekend."

As of 5 p.m. Thursday, Henri was located 450 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C., and packing sustained winds of 65 mph. A turn toward the northwest is forecast on Friday followed by an acceleration north and northeast Saturday and Sunday, the National Hurricane Center says.

Little change in strength is expected during the next 12 to 24 hours, but Henri is forecast to intensify into a hurricane by Friday night with additional strengthening expected this weekend.

There is a moderate potential (30-60 percent) for tropical storm force winds (40 mph sustained winds with higher gusts) across Saturday night through Sunday. The strongest winds are expected on the East End where there's a 5-10 percent chance of hurricane force winds (74 mph sustained and higher gusts).

"Even low probabilities of hurricane winds are significant for this area," the National Weather Service said in a storm briefing Thursday night.

A total of 2-4 inches of rain is likely to fall on the island by the end of Sunday.

The full forecast:

Friday- Mostly cloudy, with a high near 86. West wind 7 to 9 mph.

Friday Night- A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 71. Southwest wind 5 to 7 mph becoming calm in the evening.

Saturday- A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 83. Southeast wind 5 to 10 mph.

Saturday Night- Tropical storm conditions possible. A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 71. Chance of precipitation is 50%.

Sunday- Tropical storm conditions possible. A 50 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 83.

Sunday Night- Tropical storm conditions possible. A 40 percent chance of showers before 2am. Patchy fog after 2am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 70.

Monday- A 30 percent chance of showers after 2pm. Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 83.

Monday Night- A 30 percent chance of showers before 8pm. Patchy fog after 2am. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with a low around 69.

Tuesday- Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 85.