Long Island weather: Dry, cool Monday before week of showers

The workweek starts out Monday on a nice, bright and sunny note, but given the recent rainy pattern, Long Islanders may be able to guess what’s up next. There are varying chances of showers each day right up to the weekend, forecasters say.

“Bright and beautiful” is how Rich Hoffman, News 12 Long Island meteorologist, described morning skies Monday, with the day looking at increasing clouds in the afternoon and temperatures rising to the mid-50s.

As of about 10 a.m., Long Island MacArthur Airport was reporting partly sunny skies and a temperature of 53 degrees. The normal high for the day at the Ronkonkoma airport is 62 degrees, with 45 the normal low.

Heading toward midnight, look for chances of showers, and expect periods of rain overnight into Tuesday morning, Hoffman said. There should be breaks of sunshine in the afternoon with highs close to 60 degrees.

Should this forecast hold, that means April would end up with 25 out of 30 days seeing at least a trace of rain at MacArthur Airport, with last Friday’s 1.37 inches the top daily amount so far. The last rain-free day was back on April 11.

As of day-end Sunday, precipitation was 1.61 inches above normal for the month, according to the National Weather Service.

Wednesday, the first day of May, should be mostly cloudy with a slight chance of showers and highs in the mid-50s. A cloudy Thursday and Friday bring further chances of showers with highs near 60.