At last, a hard-earned summer is here

We suffered through a long, frigid and frustrating winter as well as a wild, wet spring. But finally, it's arrived.

Welcome to the first day of summer, 2011, officially at 1:16 p.m.

The National Weather Service said showers and thunderstorms are possible early Tuesday afternoon.

Who cares?

After a winter that saw 55.3 inches of snow dropped in Islip, including a record 34.4 inches of it in January, what's a little rain on the parade?

Forecasters said we can expect temperatures to break 80 degrees, with overnight lows in the 60s. Intermittent rain is likely Tuesday afternoon until Saturday, including the chance of heavy rain Wednesday and Thursday as a weather front moves into our area.

"There is still some uncertainty over the exact location of this activity," the weather service said in a hazardous weather outlook statement issued at 5:07 a.m. Tuesday.

"But with abundant moisture in the atmosphere, there is potential for urban and small stream flooding where the most persistent showers and thunderstorms develop."

Despite the rains, Long Islanders and metro area residents likely won't have many complaints -- considering the long winter that was.

In addition to Long Island, New York City also got record-breaking amounts of snow: 36 inches in Central Park in January and 61.9 inches overall between November and April.

Islip records date back to 1986. Central Park records go all the way back to 1869.