NEW YORK (AP)  -- Thursday's wet and windy afternoon weather caused quite a stir for the evening rush hour in the area.

At 4:25 p.m. the Doppler radar indicated severe thunderstorms capable of producing a tornado near Oceanside or Long Beach moving north at 20 mph. The warning was cancelled at 5:00 p.m.

Flash flood warnings were also in place for Nassau County. Flash flooding was reported around 4:30 p.m. in Long Beach as rain fell at rates of 2 to 3 incher per hour. Fire crews reportedly responded to rescue calls regarding cars stuck in the water in Lawrence, Lynbrook and Malverne.

Traffic Updates

Long Island highways experienced problems because of the rain. The Northern State parkway was closed in both directions by exit 35 and the Southern State parkway was also closed in both directions near exit 19 because of flooding. The Grand Central Parkway near the Tri-Borough Bridge reopened around 10 p.m. after it was closed off because of severe flooding.

LIRR Service Alerts

Long Island Rail Road customers ran into some problems during the evening rush hour as well. Service was temporarily suspended in both directions through Valley Stream due to a lightning strike which affected the third rail power. Thousands of commuters experienced hour long delays on the Babylon, Far Rockaway, Long Beach and West Hempstead branches.

The wild weather also temporarily suspended service east of Jamaica on the Ronkonkoma, Port Jefferson, and Oyster Bay branches due to high water conditions.

Up to 10 to 15 minute delays were reported on the mainline through Jamaica as a result of congestion at the station.

Power outages were reported throughout the area. Con Edison estimated 100 customers without power, 1759 LIPA customers suffered power outages, and PSEG reported 2,000 outages mostly in Edison, N.J.

NEW JERSEY:

Some wet and wild weather also moved across parts of the Garden State.

Torrential rains in the northern part of the state caused street flooding and lengthy flight delays at Newark Liberty International Airport.

Forecasters say some localized showers yielded as much as two inches of rain in a short amount of time.

The heaviest rain was expected to clear out by the evening, but could have been followed by more showers.

A severe thunderstorm warning was also been extended to Morris County and eastern Sussex County in New Jersey.

The National Weather Service in Mount Holly said the storm centered near Budd Lake and moved northeast at a speed of about 30 miles per hour.

Another strong storm was in southern Sussex County and moving northeast at 25 to 30 miles per hour.

The storm contained very heavy rain and lightning in addition to small hail.

The shape of the northeast coast, available moisture, and temperature extremes are ingredients that create the perfect environment for storm development. 

AccuWeather reported that the Doppler radar showed a blossoming area of steady rain across eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and upstate New York Thursday afternoon. Thunderstorms spotted in southern New Jersey signaled that the storm would grow stronger.