Long Island weather: Sunny and windy, with highs in the 60s

Saturday’s skies will be sunny and the speed of Friday's gale-force wind gusts should halve to about 30 mph, the National Weather Service said.

"Winds will still be strong enough to prevent sea breezes from moving in at least through most of the day, but there's a chance that they advance into some of the coastal areas toward sunset and past peak heating," the weather service said.

It said it was "expecting highs in the mid- (to) upper 60s for parts of northeast New Jersey, and Long Island and low to mid-60s elsewhere."

Those powerful winds that blew through on Friday, meanwhile, hit top speeds of 53 mph in Bayville in Nassau, 64 mph in Eatons Neck in Suffolk, and 60 mph in midtown Manhattan, the weather service said.

There have been 4,800 outages from midnight Friday to mid-morning Saturday, PSEG Long Island spokeswoman Elizabeth Flagler said by telephone.

"We've had scattered outages," she said. 'The system is holding up very well to high wind."

As of 10:48 a.m. Saturday, PSEG Long Island said it had 68 customers without power.

Looking ahead to Saturday night's forecast, there is a 20% chance of downpours, the weather service said.

And except for Thursday, every day from Sunday to Friday also may — at least briefly — require umbrellas.

The showers that may dampen Sunday — the odds of rain are 20% — could arrive with a cold front, the weather service said.

However, the weather service cautioned, "Timing is uncertain as models differ regarding this, so while the chance of showers will cover much of the day, most or all of the day will be dry."

While the weather service is predicting at least partly sunny skies and a high of 71 degrees on Long Island on Sunday, thermometers across the region might depart from this prediction.

"Highs across the forecast area could vary greatly — this time from the upper 50s to low- mid 80s," the weather service said.

Monday should start off with fairly clear skies after a slight chance of showers Sunday night. A high of 66 degrees is forecast for the day.

Rain may arrive after 2 p.m. on Monday, according to the weather service, which assessed the odds at 20%.

Tuesday’s odds of rain are 30% and a daytime high of 70 degrees is expected.

Wednesday’s downpour chances are 60% and thermometers should top out at 66 degrees during the day.

The weather service pinned the pattern of alternating rain and sun on a stalled frontal boundary — the separation between two weather systems.

"An unsettled period (is) expected in the long term as a frontal boundary stalls in the vicinity of the forecast area into Wednesday," the weather service said. "A series of weak low pressure systems will move along the frontal boundary, bringing with it chances for rain."

Thursday likely will offer sunshine and a daytime high of 66 degrees, the weather service said.

On Friday, there is a 40% chance of the rain returning, while thermometers during the day should climb to 60 degrees, the weather service said.