westchester

News 12's Erin Colton was joined by Dr. Bob Lahita to talk about boosters and masks. 

Bronx

BX | Weather

BXFORECAST

All right, let's bring hope back. Now for another check of that hyper local forecast as we get farther and farther into December, hope we realize those sixties certainly. And even those 50 degree temperatures may be a thing of the past. Right. Well, I wouldn't say that yet because the long range forecasts actually show temperatures warmer than normal leading into Christmas. So, if you are a fan of the snow, unfortunately, you know, that may not be the case as we get through the next couple of weeks, but we did top out the day with temperatures in the upper forties, 49 degrees in class and for them in City Island, it was chilly, it was windy, it was a blustery feel and that is going to take us into tonight. And even over the next couple of days, this week will be dry and ch and chilly seasonable temperatures in the low to mid forties. So finally beginning to feel like December, lots of sunshine and then we start to warm up a little bit by the weekend. Wait until you see the exclusive 10 day. But again, we're talking about the chill, especially waking up tomorrow morning, 32 degrees in the Bronx feeling like 26 and it looks like we don't really recover much by the afternoon in the low to mid forties. And then we're seeing feel like temperatures in the mid to upper thirties. So we rs repeat four hour Wednesday, still expecting those brisk and blustery conditions with wind chills in the twenties. And then we start to see the coldest day this week being on Thursday where temperatures will be near freezing or slightly below freezing and feeling like the low twenties. So that's something that we need to prepare for as we get through the next couple of days. But at least those temperatures start to recover by Friday highs near 48 degree. And then we'll be seeing temperatures back in the low fifties by the weekend. So that's something that we can look forward to and guess what, Dan, it's dry, dry. I love it. The winds though is what you really feel. Right. I mean, it feels cold and then that wind comes and it feels kind of you in the face a lot more cold. Yes. 50 degrees. We didn't get there today though. Yeah. You know, today wasn't a bad day. You know, it did start off with some rain, but thankfully, you know, we ended off with some drier conditions but the winds really made it feel quite uncomfortable. Absolutely. All right. Hope. Thank you and be sure to down

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Weather

Brooklyn

BK | Weather

Connecticut

CT | Weather

CTFORECAST

I know it was a bit of a doozy to start off this morning, but we're really tapping into some colder weather over the next couple of days. So much. So it's gonna feel like winter stepping out the door for some of your mornings. But we got 10 more days until the official start. December 21st. It's expected to arrive at 448 in the afternoon. So again for today, that rain from earlier is out of our hair. We're still dealing with some puddles and ponding. So be careful as you're out there on those roads or even by foot for tonight. We're still working with some colder weather. Numbers are dropping off down into the twenties. We're not really looking at cold to the point where some standing order can turn into some black ice or anything like that. But again, we're really diving into some chillier numbers stepping out the door for your tomorrow. Numbers will be in the thirties. We're looking at forties for the afternoon, Wednesday morning, again, another 30 degree day to start, but we're really not gonna get out of the thirties and then Thursday, I really want to show you what it feels like as you're stepping out the door. But again, for your Wednesday out the door, it feels like the twenties head into your Wednesday night. It'll feel like the twenties again. But look at some of these numbers for the Thursday morning, wake up similar to what we had the just past two Thursdays. We're feeling like the teens for areas up north, lower to mid twenties, for areas south of 84. So do be sure to bundle up again. We did deal with that storm earlier on, but we're looking at improving conditions throughout the rest of today, chilly weather for the next couple of days before we bounce back Friday. Heading into what looks like to be a pretty decent seasonal weekend.

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Hudson Valley

HV | Weather

HVFORECAST

Another look at that hyper local forecast, Matt, we've gotten rid of the rain, but now we're dealing with some wind. Yeah. So, you know, we dealt with a bit of some wind last night with this and then we had a little bit of a lull with the winds. But through the rest of the afternoon and into early this evening, we have some gusty conditions back across the Hudson Valley and we expected this as the storm pulled away to get back into some of these wind gusts at the 20 to 30 mile per hour range. And that's exactly what we have right now and through the early part of this evening. So you'll notice those bless conditions. It's a wind out of the west northwest, which is a colder wind, every reason to dress warmly for the rest of the day today. And it will still be breezy overnight tonight with winds subsiding a little bit, but at times still gusting up to around 1520 MPH, at least repairing that now. Yeah, with the dry weather conditions and any clouds that are around right now will gradually continue to clear as we go throughout the rest of today. If anything, a Sprinkle or a flurry of one or two spots from here on out today. But for the most part dry with those clearing skies into this evening and then overnight tonight, those temperatures will drop back down to around 30 or so. But the problem is we still have a bit of that breeze around. So it will feel like the upper teens and low twenties really into tomorrow morning. So you'll want an extra layer tonight and into tomorrow for sure. In fact, the rest of the day, it wouldn't be an awful idea to have the hat, not the heavy coat and also the gloves, if not an extra layer as well, you just have to remember that high of around 44 feels close to 10 degrees colder than that new factor in that gusty wind at 20 to 30 MPH this evening and later on tonight, those lows close to around 30 or so. But again, it's breezy that wind out of the west 1520 MPH. If you isolated gusts around 25 MPH can't be ruled out. So that's why it can feel like 10 degrees colder tonight and into early tomorrow morning. So it will be every bit of a morning tomorrow to dress very warmly. In fact, it will stay chilly tomorrow afternoon. These highs in the lower forties, that's actually seasonable for this time of the year but you factor in still that breeze at 10 to 20 MPH and it will still feel like the mid thirties tomorrow afternoon. At least we pair that with a lot of sunshine. We get into a nice dry stretch of weather. In fact, from here on out really through Saturday and we'll have temperatures chilly through Thursday, but they'll actually rise to above average levels in the upper forties to near 50 Friday and through the upcoming weekend, if anything, another chance at some rain, late Sunday into Monday of next week again before we're right back to sunshine for next Tuesday and Wednesday.

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Long Island

LI | Weather

LIFORECAST

Right. So that's gonna be the story. Really. For this week, we have a cold breeze the next couple of days but bright skies. So breezy and cold for much of the week, Friday is my pick of the week. We get close to 50 in some spots. So it is going to turn a little bit warmer. It will be very nice, less wind. We are dry through the weekend, temps near 50 some more clouds around and it's likely that we're not going to see rain until next Monday. So overnight tonight, 30 degrees, the breeze, it feels more like the twenties, it's dry tomorrow. 4544 degrees. It will be nice. And as we head into the next couple of days, we're looking at this dry pattern, high pressure is in place. We have a breeze out of the northwest and that will keep us looking just fine. So in the morning getting up 31 in Miller Place at 7 a.m. 28 in Hampton Bay is heavier jacket tomorrow. A little bit of a breeze from time to time out of the west southwest breeze, Tuesday night into west. You see we're in the thirties in the morning, low forties in the afternoon. So the next couple of days will be very similar 30 degrees tonight. With that West northwest breeze. Tomorrow, it looks nice. You'll get up to 45 in Riverhead, 43 Smithtown and 44 in Hempstead. Great to have the sunshine out there will finally warm us up a little bit by Friday at 49 nearing 50 for Saturday and Sunday. We have some showers early next week and it will turn chilly and dry again after.

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New Jersey

NJ Weather Stories

Weather stories

NJ | Weather

NJWixNoon1211LE_2023-12-11-13-10-29

I love it. Let's take a look at the conditions across the state today, Montclair at 4745 in Somerset and Howell at 46 morning rain this morning. Yeah, we know, but that gusty and better condition is here and it's here to stay for the next several days. In fact, tonight, low temperature is gonna get quite chilly up in Sussex County at 26 degrees. Manville at 28 Farmingdale at 28 degrees as well in Allendale coming in at 32. We're expecting to see a cold morning tomorrow and it remains cold for each of the mornings. Looking ahead, you can see that here in that 10 day forecast. So as you take it day by day, we are no longer dealing with the rain that we saw about an inch and a half to three inches of rain fell across the state with those gusts. Now this afternoon, upwards of 30 to 35 MPH by tomorrow, we will see sunshine lightly breezy 46 but it's cold again overnight into Wednesday because Wednesday, we rebound to 47 not as windy but that sunshine for Wednesday, Thursday and parts of Friday notice temperatures that are seasonable, typical for this time of year. They'll be in the upper forties here and the mid forties, I should say before we come back up into the fifties for the weekend, Friday, we start off with sun, we end the day with some clouds and then for Saturday into Sunday, unfortunately, leaning more toward a cloudy situation. The next weather event that we're gonna be watching is going to be on Sunday night into early on Monday. What we're really tracking here is a coastal system. It's going to work its way up the coast, but it's not expected to bring any kind of wintry weather. What we're looking at at this stage in the forecast is that, hey, there's going to be some rain, uh but we don't really have a pinpoint on it just yet. So we're gonna keep an eye out for that for Sunday night into Monday. Although it's seven days away, we have a lot of time to work out the forecast details there. Thankfully, at least temperatures this weekend look ok. And if anything speeds up, it would happen on Sunday afternoon, but we got a lot of time to work out the details there. Don't forget you need a jacket, it's cold, it's windy, it's brisk, especially in the mornings this week. It is December after all and get out there and enjoy the fresh air and the sunshine

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Westchester

WC | Weather

Article 289250 Thumbnail

The New Normal: When should eligible people get the second COVID-19 booster?

330ThenewNormalBoostersMasks

but right now to dr bob la heated to answer some important questions. Now let's talk about that new study from the CDC about the J and J shot that that booster is equivalent or okay against hospitalizations? Can you explain that a little bit better for people? Yeah. The what has happened is people have been studying the effects of the J and J vaccine versus the fighter versus the Moderna and it's a single J and J shot and this is to prevent or effectiveness against hospitalizations. A single shot is about 31% effective. This is the J and J. If you have two doses of the J and J, that is the booster, it's 67% protected. If you get one J and J and one Messenger RNA injection, it's 78% effective. And of course after three doses of the Messenger RNA as you said, Aaron, it's about 90% effective in preventing serious disease. And that's very very important when we talk about that. And one of the reasons for the booster was that it's the infection rate is less than twice what it would be if you didn't have the booster and severe illness is less than four times what it would be if you didn't have the the first booster. I'm talking about. I mean this is good news. The CDC is now saying, you know the J and J shot, which a lot of people were staying away from after we were seeing the percentage rates of the other vaccines even though there is proof showing that three doses of the M RNA shots which is fighter and Moderna are better. Why why why would anyone choose J and J rather than than the ladder which seems to be better for you? Well, in some areas they don't people don't have a choice. You know, the again it's all about accessibility refrigeration with regard to the Messenger RNA vaccines, they have to be frozen as you know. And that that was an initial problem. There weren't a lot of portable freezers that J and J can just be given after a simple refrigeration and a lot of people, I mean a lot of people are interested in only getting one shot and the J and J is a one shot deal. So that's why people vibe for the J and J shot rather than Messenger RNA. And then there's the fear factor. People are afraid of Messenger RNA because they hear about it going into cells and being in the cytoplasm and all that stuff. People are concerned. I must say they're misguided because the Messenger RNA is highly efficient and very safe. All right, let's talk about the latest big news with these boosters. The FDA authorizing that additional booster dose of the either fighter or Moderna vaccine for adults now 50 and older for those now eligible for that second booster many are asking when should they get that shot? If they should get that shot? Let's start with, when when should that fourth shot go into arms. Well, we're saying four months after your first booster is appropriate for the second booster. And most people are saying, well I'm going to wait until I'm out six months and before it was over 65, we were recommending the second booster. Now they're saying 50. And interestingly enough, all of my patients with autoimmune disease, they're saying if you're, if you've got an autoimmune disease, like rheumatoid arthritis or systemic lupus or Sjogren's syndrome for example, you can get the shot, you can get the fighter shot if you're over the age of 12 because you know, a lot of kids have arthritis and autoimmune disease. If you're over 18 for the moderna shot. Now this is for the booster we're talking about And it used to be over 65, but now it's over 50, they're saying 50 is the line and anybody over 50 should be getting the second booster? Of course it's not mandated and and Aaron remember that less than 50%, namely about 45% of the public only got the first booster. So I can't understand how we're going to encourage people to get a second booster. They haven't gotten the first booster. That's the question and we're seeing cases declined, even though we're seeing small upticks day by day in the tri state area cases are on the decline masks are off in schools and inside stores. So people are asking themselves, hey, if we're doing this good with a whole lot of people not even getting the first booster, why should I get that second booster? That's a very good point. And a lot of people are telling me, well I don't want to weather the possibility of having a side effect. A lot of people. And maybe I'm just seeing people that have had reactions to the first booster and they're saying I am not going to go for a second booster because I've had a reaction and some people don't want to boost her at all. And those are the ones who just got the first two shots, The Messenger RNA shot one and shot two. So yes, it is a it is a bit of a concern. I think I would really center in on those people who have cancer, cancer, chemotherapy, autoimmune diseases are on drugs that suppress the immune system. Those are the people that I would zero in on and say you've got to get the second booster. Alright, we did just mention that in the tri state area there is a small uptick that we are seeing day by day? Small but an uptick. It's not going down this positivity rate going up a bit. Is this because of that new stealth omicron variant? Yes, it is, it's the B a two variant of omicron now around thanksgiving. I was reporting on, oh, Macron's first appearance and I said wow, this is about 40% more effective than the delta variant. The good news is clinically, it didn't produce severe disease because it's largely an upper respiratory rather than lower respiratory infection. Then comes along the B. A. Two which is a variant with, I think there's eight mutations on the spike protein for the B. A. Two, meaning the B. A. Two is even more transmissible than the B. A. One of omicron. So that means that right now we're looking at a major surge of the BA2. So that most of the infections, if not all, especially in urban areas, will be the be a two stealth variant. Now the good news is again, it doesn't produce severe clinical disease for most people, but there's always those few people who get dreadfully ill and wind up in the hospital and in the intensive care unit. So it's not time to let our guard down. Well, let's talk about kids. We did mention that there is a decline in kids, which is good to see because we saw Omar khan uh and Delta affecting kids more than that original case of covid uh masks are often schools, a lot of schools. So this is good news. I mean, I know I hear a lot of parents saying that their their kids a couple of days after taking those masks off are coming home with the sniffles and and maybe some colds or allergies but not Covid. So that's good news. Right? That is excellent news. Now people have to realize that we still have allergies. In fact the pollen level today is extremely high. So people are going to have scratchy throats are gonna be sneezing, they're gonna be coughing and there'll be that some of them will be congested but they don't run fevers. As a rule, they don't have muscle aches and pains or joint pains and they don't have all the components that one would see with Covid a loss of taste and smell for example. So common colds are now back and remember that's a coronavirus to that was that's a cousin to Covid. And so I would expect there to be a surge of colds when people are not washing their hands anymore. They're not wearing masks, they're clustering in groups. Uh And every now and then we're going to see somebody pop up that actually has Covid the omicron variant, the B. A. Two. But we don't know until they present and a lot of people test at home and when they're positive they just quarantine and say I have Covid, I'm staying home for five days and that's it. So we may never know the rate of infection except through wastewater analysis. Right? Alright. Let's stay talking about masks. There's a new lawsuit asking the federal court to permanently end the transportation mask mandate Florida's leading that case. But there are 20 other states joining in? Also pilots and flight attendants wanting the masks to come off. Where do you think this lawsuit is going to go? And we do know that April 18? Is that deadline? Yes. I the C E. O. S of the various airlines. I have the document here wrote a big letter to the, to the president asking for the mass to be rescinded immediately. And the reason for that is that, uh, the data from epidemiologic studies were not aligned with what was seeing in airplanes And 61% of the violence and airplanes against flight attendants and pilots were from were due to mask issues, mask mandates. So they said, listen in airplanes we have these tell fa filters which are excellent, which filter out all kinds of particular matter, including they tell me viruses. So the airplane they're saying is safer than being on a bus or a train or subway for example. So they want the mask mandates dropped. And I think we're seeing that in schools, which I think is very sensible and we're seeing that in other areas like churches and stadiums and concert halls and Broadway shows for example. So that deadline do, do, do we think that that will be extended? What, what, what's going to go into that to make that decision post april 18th, I hope it is not extended because there will be many, many lawsuits if that is not, if that is extended because you know, I think it's uh, it's silly to continue to wear masks at this time

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