Long Island weather: Seasonable temps, in 60s, return Thursday

Long Island gets a cooler shoulder from Mother Nature Thursday, compared to Wednesday’s highs in the lower 80s and three consecutive days of record highs, the National Weather Service said.

Temperatures Thursday rose to the low 70s, with Long Island MacArthur Airport hitting 73, certainly shy of Wednesday’s 84 and Tuesday’s and Monday’s 76 and 77.

By around 2 p.m. Thursday, conditions dipped to the upper 60s at the airport, as well as in Shirley and Farmingdale.

The afternoon brings a slight chance of rain into the nighttime hours, according to the service’s Upton office said.

Skies are mostly cloudy, with an east wind at 8 to 14 mph.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday each notched records , with Wednesday’s high at the airport topping out at 84 degrees. That record high beat the previous mark of 74 in 1998, and it is more than 20 degrees higher than the normal temperature for this time of year.

“Bye-bye warm weather,” said News 12 Long Island meteorologist Rich Hoffman, “with much cooler and windier conditions for the weekend.”

Conditions Thursday night are cloudy with showers and fog, Hoffman said. Overnight lows are near 60 degrees.

Friday opens with cloudy skies and scattered showers with daily highs near 72 degrees.

Both Saturday and Sunday see cooler temperatures, with daily highs between 55 and 60 degrees, Hoffman said.

A storm system Saturday could produce rain and wind gusts as high as 40 mph, he said.

With Patricia Kitchen