Long Island weather: Freezing temperatures kick off weekend

Long Island has moved away from thin-jacket weather and on to heavy-coat temperatures.

Saturday temperatures started “pretty cold” across the Island, meteorologists said, with most areas in the mid-20s. The Saturday high will be around 38 degrees with winds coming from the north at five to nine miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service.

“And just to put that into perspective, the normal high for this time of year would be around 55,” said Faye Morrone, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Upton. “So we’re pretty much 20 degrees below normal.”

Morrone said an arctic cold front came through Long Island from Canada on Friday night, which led to Saturday’s unusually cold temperatures.

Factoring in wind speeds, the temperature felt more like 20 degrees Saturday morning.

Central Park in Manhattan recorded a low of 24 degrees this morning, eclipsing the record of 28 degrees set in 1933, the weather service said. LaGuardia Airport was at 26 degrees this morning, breaking the record of 29 degrees set in 1956. Kennedy Airport’s low was 24 degrees, breaking the record of 28 degrees set in 1973.

Long Island very nearly broke its own records. The low this morning in Islip was 24 degrees, just shy of the mark of 23 degrees set in 1973.

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Farmingdale and Westhampton also registered 24-degree mornings, the Weather Service said.

Saturday’s overnight lows will dip into the lower 20s, and remote places like the pine barrens might even see lows in the teens, Morrone said.

Sunday will be dry and partly sunny, but not as cold as Saturday, with highs near 49 degrees. Winds will come from the north at five to 10 miles per hour.

Sunday evening will be mostly cloudy with a low around 38. Overnight, there is a 20 percent chance of rain after 3 a.m.

“Overnight Sunday night will be dropping into the mid-30s, which is fairly typical for this time of year,” Morrone said.

There is a 40 percent chance of rain, mostly after 9 a.m., Monday, according to the National Weather Service. The high will be near 49 during the day and drop to 39 degrees overnight.