Hurricane Earl started the day as a category 4 hurricane--but now has been downgraded to a category 2 storm.

It's still got winds of 110 miles an hour, though, which helped make Thursday a good day for surfing near the Montauk Point Lighthouse. Surfer Brad Sabula says he's cautious but welcomes the whitecaps.

"Like, when you're surfing that type of wave," he says, "it's either you know what you're doing, or you're gonna drown out there."

In Suffolk County, officials and residents are preparing for heavy rain and high winds. Long Island authorities aren't taking chances--they've closed beaches run by the county along the Atlantic Coast and the last Long Island Rail Road train to the East End will leave Penn Station at 12:39 a.m. tonight. Otherwise service won't go past Ronkonkoma and Speonk until after the storm clears. LIRR spokesman Joe Calderone says this measure is a safety precaution. "We don't want to risk the possibility of having customers on trains that are stranded because of downed trees or power lines," he says.

Calderone says the railroad expects to resume service Saturday morning, but that could be delayed by potential storm damage.

The National Weather Service predicts the storm is expected to pass about 100 miles southeast of Montauk soemtime tomorrow afternoon. Heavy rains and wind will likely affect the entire metropolitan area.

Eastern Long Island and the New Jersey coast are under a tropical storm warning, while New York City, northern Jersey and southern Westchester are under a tropical storm watch. Earl's effect on the city is expected to be milder, with winds of up to 20 miles per hour and no more than a quarter inch of rain.