Long Island weather forecast: Cold, windy through Saturday, then warmer, wet Sunday

Wind chills and colder-than-normal temperatures are combining to make for a chilly Friday, with similar conditions expected Saturday, before a warmer but likely wet Sunday, the National Weather Service said.

Highs in the 40s Friday and Saturday will rise to the low 50s Sunday briefly, along with an 80% chance of rain. Then the mercury drops and forecasters are watching a storm headed for Long Island Tuesday. It's looking like a mostly rain event but snow is not out of the question, the weather service said.

Conditions are making it difficult to predict exactly what the storm will bring. "What does appear to be more certain ... is for a strong coastal low to impact the region," the weather service said in its forecast discussion.

But first, a cold front will move through the area Sunday afternoon and night, bringing with it rain and an outside chance of snow.

"Right now, at least, this is looking like primarily a rain event, maybe a few wet snowflakes at the onset and at the end," weather service meteorologist Bill Goodman said Friday, adding: "Any real chance at snow will be to the north and west of us."

The winds Friday gusted up to 40 mph, making the 43-degree high temperature feel more like the 20s and low 30s, with similar wind chill values for Saturday.

A brief respite from the cold comes Sunday when it rises to the low 50s but it will still be windy and wet.

Next week, the highs Monday and Tuesday won't get out of the low 40s, the weather service said. Sunshine will be abundant Monday but by Tuesday afternoon the storm arrives, likely rain all day, depending on the temperatures. 

According to the advance forecast on the official weather service website, any local heavy lake effect snow will be confined well to our north and west — northern New Jersey, Pennsylvania and upstate, that bulletin out of the weather service office in Binghamton.

The winds are putting all Long Island waters — the Sound and all South Shore ocean waters and bays — under a gale warning, in effect until midnight Friday. "Strong winds will cause hazardous seas which could capsize or damage vessels and reduce visibility," the weather service said.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a Newsday reporter since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press, Society of the Silurians and National Headliner Awards for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing. He is the author of “Swee'pea,” about New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. His debut crime novel, “For Nothing Is Hidden,” rooted in 1950s Long Island, was released in October 2025.