Long Island forecast: More clear skies but much cooler

Long Island should continue to enjoy clear skies at least until Thursday evening but the unseasonably warm temperatures of recent days are expected to end Tuesday as a cold front moves in. By the end of the workweek, rain will become the story when remnants of what is now Subtropical Storm Nicole blow through.

The National Weather Service said Monday evening that Tuesday will be sunny as a north wind blows at 11 to 14 mph and the thermometer rises to just 56 degrees. Such a high would be about normal for the date in Islip, but would be downright chilly compared with what Long Island has experienced in the last few days.

Monday saw another record high as the temperature hit 79 degrees just before 1 p.m. The high for the date had been 74 degrees in 2020.

The service said Monday that after "one of the mildest starts to November locally, reality returns to the region on Tuesday with temperatures ... 20 degrees cooler compared to previous days." 

The cooling will continue Tuesday night with an expected low temperature of just 38 degrees under mostly clear skies, according to the weather service.

Both Wednesday and Thursday will be sunny with respective highs of about 55 degrees and 63 degrees, the weather service said.

The dry weather is then expected to end, as there is 50% chance of rain Friday, Veterans Day, after 1 p.m., and an 90% chance Friday night. There is a 80% chance of rain Saturday.

The high temperatures for Friday and Saturday are both forecast to be about 67 degrees. 

Dave Radell, a weather service meteorologist, said in an area update: "Nicole, or its remnants, may move quickly through the area by week's end and into the weekend. A period of widespread rain and winds are possible with the system."

As of late Monday afternoon, Nicole was still over the Atlantic Ocean centered about 435 miles east-northeast of the northwestern Bahamas but was expected to become a hurricane before making landfall on the east coast of Florida on Wednesday.