Christmas Power Outages Likely On Long Island

Christmas Day won't be white, but it will be rainy and windy on Long Island.

A wind advisory will be in effect from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. Monday. Wind gusts up to 55 mph may blow down limbs, trees and power lines. Scattered power outages are likely, the National Weather Service says.

Rain is expected to begin falling by late Sunday night on the island. The precipitation should end by sunrise. The strongest wind gusts are likely late Monday morning and early in the afternoon, according to the NWS.

Temperatures Christmas night will fall below normal as an Arctic air mass builds into the area.

"Once temps fall below freezing Monday night we will not get above freezing for quite some time," the NWS said in a forecast discussion Sunday afternoon. "With several nights of low temps likely falling into the teens and single digits mid to late week, and highs not getting much above the lower to mid 20s, the potential for frozen/burst pipes, space heating related mishaps and other cold weather impacts will increase. These frigid conditions may continue right through the weekend into early next week."

Forecasters are also watching models that have been signaling the potential for a late week/weekend winter storm. At the moment, the NWS says there's a 40 percent chance of snow Friday night and Saturday. Sign up for Patch breaking news and weather alerts to get the latest updates on the storm directly to your inbox.

The full forecast:

Sunday- Partly sunny, with a high near 41. Northeast wind 10 to 13 mph.

Sunday Night- Rain, mainly after 11pm. Low around 36. Wind chill values between 30 and 35. East wind 11 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.

Christmas Day- A 20 percent chance of rain before 8am. Mostly sunny, with a high near 42. Wind chill values between 25 and 30. Windy, with a west wind 18 to 23 mph increasing to 26 to 31 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 50 mph.

Monday Night- Partly cloudy, with a low around 24. Wind chill values between 15 and 20. West wind 11 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.

Tuesday- Mostly sunny, with a high near 31. West wind 11 to 13 mph.

Tuesday Night- Mostly cloudy, with a low around 20.

Wednesday- Mostly sunny, with a high near 27.

Wednesday Night- Partly cloudy, with a low around 16.

Thursday- Mostly sunny, with a high near 25.

Thursday Night- Partly cloudy, with a low around 14.

Friday- A 30 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 26.

Friday Night- A 40 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 17.

Saturday- A 40 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 29. Blustery.