Christmas Day's clearing skies bring glimmer of sunshine
Ahmed Elzoghby, of Medford, holds his son Yaseen, 7, as he shoots a basketball in a park in Ronkonkoma on Thursday, Dec. 25, 2014. Looking on is his daughter Aya, 10. Credit: Ed Betz
An unseasonably warm Christmas Day will usher in at least a couple days of sun, forecasters said.
"That's sunshine, which we haven't seen since last Saturday, and it's going to be a welcome sight," said David Stark, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Upton.
Showers that dumped up to 2 inches of rain across parts of Long Island earlier this week tapered off Thursday morning, with clear, breezy skies and temperatures in the 50s expected through the afternoon.
Winds are expected to drop down by Thursday night but so will temperatures, which get down to near freezing.
More clear days are expected through Sunday afternoon, when temperatures will dip into the high 40s and cloudy skies could bring more rain, Stark said.
Fog that had cut visibility and slowed traffic through early Thursday morning was gone by midmorning, with no major road incidents reported and delays of 15 minutes or less at area airports.
SARRA SOUNDS OFF: Newsday's Gregg Sarra hosts a new show covering the latest in high school sports on Long Island.
SARRA SOUNDS OFF: Newsday's Gregg Sarra hosts a new show covering the latest in high school sports on Long Island.
