STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Hurricane Ian churned toward the southwest coast of Florida Wednesday as a dangerous Category 4 storm and is expected to bring catastrophic storm surge and wind damage to the state.
After making landfall Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center expects Ian to emerge off the eastern coast of Florida on Thursday at tropical storm strength before taking aim at Georgia and South Carolina.
Joe Curtis, an AccuWeather meteorologist, said Ian could begin to affect Staten Island and the rest of the city by the weekend.
“We will start to see a little bit more cloudiness as we head into tomorrow afternoon, especially on Friday,” said Curtis. “It seems like the best chance to start to see some rainfall getting into the New York City area will probably be during the day on Saturday.”
Major rainfall impacts from Ian are forecasted to hit areas south of the city, centered on sections of the Carolinas and Virginia, according to the National Hurricane Center.
While the exact track of Ian after it hits Florida could affect rainfall in surrounding states, Curtis said “on and off” periods of rain are the likeliest outcome for Staten Island heading into the weekend.
South Jersey may experience more significant rainfall totals, said Curtis, but the barrier for heavy rainfall is currently not expected to push north of that area.
“There’s still some questions exactly how this plays out, but we are confident that it’s going to be kind of a dreary weekend,” said Curtis. “We’ll have a lot of clouds around. We’ll have some showers and some light rain.”
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