Weather forecast: Warmer temperatures expected with high near 40 on Christmas

The days before Christmas should prove warmer than the frigid first days of winter Long Island experienced this past weekend, marked by the season's first snow and temperatures that dropped into the teens.

Cold as it has been, the frosty weather has not broken any records. "We just aren’t acclimated to it yet," said Bill Goodman, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Upton. "This is completely normal for December."

Monday is expected to be sunny and a little warmer, with a high near 32. There’s a 30% chance of snow early Tuesday, mostly after 4 a.m. That chance of snow could mix with rain after 9 a.m. 

The weather is then expected to shift to clouds before skies gradually clear, with a high near 41 degrees, according to the weather service. On Tuesday night, the low should be about 25. The chance of precipitation is about 40%.

That early precipitation expected on Tuesday could wind up being a rain-snow mix, said James Tomasini, another weather service meteorologist, but "as far as any accumulation or totals, anything would be really light," with perhaps a coating or a few tenths of an inch of snow. 

Christmas Day is expected to be mostly sunny. "I wouldn’t call it the Fourth of July," Goodman said, but it’ll be warmer than the previous few days, "in the upper 30s near 40."

Thursday and Friday are expected to be a bit warmer still, with a high of 41 and 44 under partly sunny skies.

It's unclear whether there will still be snow clinging to the ground on Christmas morning. The last time Long Island experienced a white Christmas — defined as at least one inch of snow on the ground by 7 a.m. Christmas morning — was in 2013, according to the weather service. 

With Brianne Ledda