Long Island weather: Rainy Friday, then dry and cooler weekend

The workweek is wrapping up with some showers — maybe a rumble of thunder — and mild temperatures in the 50s, forecasters say. That’s before a dry and somewhat cooler weekend.

Some spotty showers were moving through the area just before 8 a.m., with expectations for a break and then a return of precipitation later in the afternoon, making for a wet evening commute, said Carlie Buccola, National Weather Service meteorologist in Upton.

A rumble of thunder could also be in the picture, most likely for later this afternoon and evening with the passage of a cold front, she said. Look, too, for areas of fog later in the morning and afternoon, the weather service said.

Mild temperatures are the other piece of Friday’s weather story.

As of just around 8 a.m., Long Island MacArthur Airport was reporting 50 degrees, with south/southwest winds, gusting to 25 mph. Normal is 47 degrees for the daily high and 31 for a low.

Hempstead was also registering 50 degrees, with Westhampton at 51 and Southold and Stony Brook at 52.

It’s looking likely that the airport will break the daily record for mildest low temperature, known in weather lingo as the high minimum temperature. The record is 44 degrees, set in 2016, with Friday, no lower than 47 earlier in the morning, forecast to remain in the mid to low 50s right through midnight.

The weekend is set to bring sunny skies, with temperatures heading up to around 50 degrees Saturday, with a cooler Sunday, as highs in the low 40s are expected, said Rich Hoffman, News 12 Long Island meteorologist.

Looking to the start of the next workweek, Monday, with temperatures again in the low 40s, brings “a chance of wet snow or a rain shower,” Hoffman said.

Buccola said that, as of the Friday morning forecast, there was a slight chance of a rain/snow mix Monday from around the 6 a.m. to 10 a.m.