Long Island weather: Saturday high of 55 sets record for LI

After last weekend’s bitter cold snap and windchills well below zero, Long Islanders can enjoy a reprieve from frigid winter weather for the next two days.

The temperatures on Saturday became so springlike that the record at Long Island MacArthur Airport was broken at 1:13 p.m., when the thermostat hit 55 degrees — 1 degree above the previous record for Feb. 20 set in 1991, according to the National Weather Service’s office in Upton.

Highs were expected to be closer to 60 degrees in western Nassau County, said Jay Engle, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Upton office.

“It’s going to be well above normal,” Engle said.

Clouds will roll in Saturday afternoon, but Saturday night was expected to be mostly clear and in the low 40s. Sunday’s forecast is only slightly cooler, but still about 10 degrees above average for this time of year, with highs in the low 50s, Engle said.

Some rain might move in late Sunday night and could turn into a period of wet snow, though less than an inch of accumulation is expected.

The start of the workweek will signal a return to more seasonable temperatures, according to the weather service: Monday will be mostly sunny with temperatures in the low 40s.