Lauren McDonough, of Melville, left, and Shannon Frawley, of Huntington, walk in...

Lauren McDonough, of Melville, left, and Shannon Frawley, of Huntington, walk in Heckscher Park in Huntington on Friday. Credit: Rick Kopstein

With an arctic air mass vacating Long Island this weekend, high temperatures will hit 40 degrees Sunday and hover around there for a few days, the National Weather Service forecasted Friday.

On Saturday, high temperatures will stick to the low 30s, but may feel like the low 20s, said Bryan Ramsey, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Upton office. Low temps Saturday evening will drop to the mid-20s.

But Sunday’s forecast calls for cloudy skies and high temperatures hitting or just surpassing 40 degrees, Ramsey said.

“It will be a little breezy on Sunday, so despite high temperatures hitting the low 40s, the temperature on Sunday will feel a little cooler … feeling right around freezing,” Ramsey said.

High temperatures are forecast to reach the upper 30s Monday and the lower 40s on Tuesday, Ramsey said. He added that sunny skies Monday and a partly sunny Tuesday “will help all that snow that we’ve had lingering on the ground to melt."

Normal high temperatures for this time of year should hover around 39 degrees, according to the weather service’s historical January almanac for Islip. Lows typically reach 32 or 31 degrees.

Looking ahead to next Friday, Ramsey forecasted mostly sunny to partly cloudy skies and no precipitation during the week. But by mid-week, evening low temperatures will drop back down into the teens.

The highs of around 20 degrees and single-digit low temperatures that Long Islanders felt on Jan. 21 and 22 were much warmer than the 8 degrees below zero recorded at Islip on Jan. 18, 1965, the lowest temperature ever recorded at Islip during the month of January going back to 1963, according to NWS data. The lowest temperature recorded on any Jan. 21 and 22 at Islip was 3 degrees below zero and 7 degrees below zero, respectively, in 1984.

With Maureen Mullarkey

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Romantic spas in the winter ... What's up on LI ... Get the latest news and more great videos at NewsdayTV

Get the latest news and more great videos at NewsdayTV Credit: Newsday

Romantic spas in the winter ... What's up on LI ... Get the latest news and more great videos at NewsdayTV

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