Long Island weather: Rain to clear for ‘beautiful weekend’

A Canadian cold front helped high temperatures on Long Island plunge about 15 degrees overnight, bringing with it “perfect fall weekend” weather, according to the National Weather Service.

Friday’s sunny weather and temperatures in the mid-80s were pushed out by the cold front that moved in overnight and brought scattered showers, which are expected to linger in some spots on the Island Saturday morning but will “clear up rather quickly,” said Brian Ciemnecki, a meteorologist with the weather service.

“The skies should turn sunny by the afternoon,” Ciemnecki said. “It’ll be quite a pleasant day.”

High temperatures will reach 70 degrees almost everywhere across the Island on Saturday, Ciemnecki said, staying on course with the average temperature of 71 at this time of year at Long Island MacArthur Airport.

Matt Hammer, a meteorologist with News 12 Long Island, said any outdoor plans for Saturday should be fine for this afternoon, but he also expects a “much cooler feel to the air” with a bit of a breeze.

Low temperatures will dip well below normal Saturday night, into the 40s, Ciemnecki said. The normal low for Saturday at the airport is 54 degrees, he said.

Hammer said, “You’ll need a jacket or sweatshirt tonight as lows dip back into the 40s!”

For Sunday, “beautiful” weather in the upper 60s will blanket Long Island, with no precipitation in the forecast, Ciemnecki said.

Sunday night, lows will return to the 40s, but will hit the lowest in Long Island’s central pine barrens, often the coldest area on the Island, where temperatures will be in the upper 30s, Ciemnecki said.

A high rip current risk is in effect for Saturday through the evening at beaches along southwestern and southeastern Suffolk County, southern Nassau County, southern Queens and Brooklyn, according to an advisory posted by the weather service just after 4 a.m.

“It’ll be a beautiful weekend,” Ciemnecki said. “There’s not too much to worry about, except today doesn’t look like a good day to go to the beaches.”