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Weather warning in effect with wind gusts up to 60 MPH possible

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Wind gusts of up to 60 miles per hour could hit the area tonight into tomorrow, according to weather experts, putting Long Island’s biggest electric supplier on guard for possible outages.

The National Weather Service has issued a high wind warning for much of the mid-Atlantic and southern New England regions, including eastern Suffolk County, for which a hazardous weather outlook is also in effect.

“Trees and power lines may be downed,” the NWS stated in its high wind warning. “This may lead to scattered power outages and difficulty driving high profile vehicles.”

According to Carlie Buccola, a meteorologist with the NWS, the warning seems pretty even across Long Island. Sustained winds of 30 to 40 miles per hour should be expected starting around midnight tonight, with gusts up to 60 miles per hour possible. The warning remains in effect through 2 p.m. Sunday.

PSEGLI — which covers mostly all of Long Island and all of the North Fork aside from Greenport, which has its own electric plant — said in a press release that a “full complement of personnel” is at the ready to deal with any outages that do occur.

The utility has been upgrading its infrastructure in Riverhead over the last few months, mostly working along Main Road. Upgrades have included installing new wiring, placing newer and more durable poles in the ground and replacing switching equipment.

“While heavy winds may make it unsafe for our crews to get around and begin restorations immediately, our customers should be comforted knowing our crews stand at the ready to begin restoring service, in the event of any outages, as safely and quickly as conditions allow,”said John O’Connell, vice president of transmission & distribution at PSEG Long Island. “We ask that customers be patient.”

The NWS said that up to a half inch of snow could fall tomorrow as well.