Hurricane Warning For Long Island, As the Hudson Valley Braces for Henri’s Approach

What began as a tropical disturbance that was bound to pass far out to sea has become a powerful tropical storm that's got parts of Long Island and New England in its sight. The National Weather Service says Henri will soon strengthen to a Category 1 hurricane, and is expected to make landfall sometime Sunday. But where exactly is it heading? How will its wind and rains affect the Hudson Valley and other surrounding areas?

Forecast models had at first predicted that Henri could clip parts of Cape Cod and eastern New England. This would have kept it well east of the area. But more and more weather models had Henri tracking further to the west as the week progressed. This put parts of Long Island and Connecticut in its direct path, and began to raise concerns that at least parts of the Hudson Valley could receive some of the storm's rains due to proximity. And now, as of late Friday, there is even more suggestion that it could track even further to the west

Hudson Valley Weather stresses that there is still a lot of disagreement over potential path. One concern is that the storm could shift more west, then stall over the area, thus bringing torrential rains to the Hudson Valley just days after Tropical Storm Fred pushed through. More heavy rain could easily flood the already saturated ground. One proposed model, posted by Hudson Valley Weather, as parts of the Hudson Valley receiving over 5 inches of rainfall.

Right now, a Hurricane Warning is in effect for central and eastern parts of Long Island, as well as coastal Connecticut. A Hurricane Watch is in effect for inland Connecticut, and most of coastal New England. A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for Weschester County and western parts of Connecticut. This could very change within the next 24 to 36 hours.