Hurricane José may not directly hit the metro area, but it’s still set to pack a wallop in the region.

The Category 1 storm will whip up large waves and life-threatening rip currents off Long Island and New Jersey from Tuesday into Wednesday, while pummeling the city with rain and fierce winds, the National Weather Service predicted.

Suffolk County was already getting slammed with 4- to 8-foot waves on Sunday.

“I would expect they’d get bigger as the week goes on,” said Faye Morrone, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Brookhaven, LI, office.

The service warned of possible flooding in communities on the Long Island Sound and Peconic and Gardiners bays.

“If you know that you tend to be vulnerable and in a space that floods during storms, take the necessary precautions,’’ Morrone warned.

Tropical storm-force winds of up to 50 mph are also expected to blow through the coast, reaching northern New Jersey and New York on Tuesday evening, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

The powerful winds will swirl through Long Island from 2 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, as well.

“We could see some power outages and wires coming down with those winds,” Morrone said.

Eastern Long Island is expected to get showered by up to 3 inches of rain in the first half of the week.

Steady rain is expected in New York City on Tuesday, with morning showers sticking around into the evening and wind gusts reaching up to 50 mph.

Nearly an inch of rain is expected to douse the city on Wednesday, too.

José strengthened Sunday as it continued its journey through the Atlantic off the East Coast, with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph.

The trajectory may still change, but it is not expected to make landfall.

José spared the Caribbean islands already devastated by Hurricane Irma.