Weather Service issues flood watch

The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for Thursday morning through Friday evening for Long Island, as weather officials are expecting storms to dump between 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 inches of rain over the region.

“Locally higher amounts…possibly up to 5 inches” can also be expected, officials said.

The flood watch is being issued for all five boroughs of New York City and Nassau and Suffolk counties.

According to weather officials, a low pressure system “will intensify over the mid-Atlantic states on Thursday. Then will lift north and pass south and east of Long Island Thursday night into early Saturday.

“This low will meander east of Cape Code Friday night before departing on Saturday,” weather officials said.

A flood watch means there is potential for flooding, weather officials say. Residents are being told to monitor forecasts and be alert.

Those who live in flood-prone areas should also take proper precautions.

The latest storm will only add on to what is already a wetter-than-average month, said Peter Wichrowski, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service.

The closest monitoring station in Islip has detected 6.72 inches of rain so far this month, he said. The normal rainfall for this point of June is just 1.69 inches, Mr. Wichrowski said.

Rainfall is up by about a half an inch over the course of the year so far, he said, with 22.07 inches recorded at Islip since New Years.

“We certainly made up a lot over the next couple of weeks,” he said.