Long Island weather: Sunny and mild today; rain tomorrow

Sunshine and calm winds on Saturday will help day time temperatures rise to 64 degrees — a bit cooler than Friday’s record-breaking warm spell, the forecasters said.

But then Long Islanders could see showers and thunderstorms Sunday, courtesy of a system that is expected to weaken after possibly bringing severe storms with hail, damaging winds and tornadoes to the Mississippi to Tennessee region on Saturday, according to the National Weather Service and its Climate Prediction Center.

Fog should arrive around 2 a.m. Sunday. The odds of precipitation are 100% and as much as one inch of rain may fall.

"For Sunday, rain showers will increase and become widespread across the entire region," the weather service said. "They will be moderate to possibly heavy at times."

What the weather service termed "nuisance minor localized flooding" in low-lying or poor drainage areas is possible.

Highs are expected to be in the low 50s, the weather service said.

Then look for a markedly cooler work week as a series of cold fronts arrive.

Monday and Tuesday should be clear and sunny, with day time highs just reaching the low 50s. And the wind gusts experienced on Friday could return, possibly hitting 39 mph, the weather service said.

Clouds will arrive Wednesday and there is a 50% chance of precipitation that day and Thursday. Thermometers should hover in the low to mid-50s during those two days.

Sunshine returns on Friday, though the day time high will only be 46 degrees, the weather service said.

Record-breaking warmth

Next week’s predicted cool weather contrasts with the last few days of unusually warm weather that saw new records set around the tri-state area:

• Islip reached 78 degrees on Friday, smashing the 1976 record of 65, weather service meteorologist Dominic Ramunni said by telephone.
• LaGuardia Airport saw temperatures climb to 82 degrees. The previous record of 72 degrees was set in 1943.
• Kennedy Airport reached a new record of 81 degrees. The previous day time high of 67 was set in 1954.
• Central Park pierced a 99-year record, reaching 82 degrees. The previous record high of 76 dates back to 1922.
• Newark Airport registered the highest temperature in the tri-state area, reaching 84 degrees. Its previous record was 73, set in 1986.

"We just had this push of mild air from the south and west and that helped us get a little late March warmth," Ramunni said.

Those highs were all achieved despite stiff wind gusts, with instruments near the ground clocking 55 mph in Carle Place in Nassau and 53 mph at Farmingdale Airport in Suffolk, the weather service said.