Forecast: Wet Labor Day with possible storms, flooding

Sunday night is looking dry and mostly cloudy, with the rain due to spoil Labor Day showing up overnight, the National Weather Service said.

The low Sunday night will dip to about 70 degrees and, after midnight, the chance of rain and storms begins to rise. And while Monday morning will probably stay dry, there is a 40% chance of showers in the afternoon, with rain considered "likely" Monday evening, sometime after 7 p.m., the weather service says

“Fortunately for the drought, unfortunately because it is Labor Day tomorrow,” Matt Wunsch, a meteorologist with the weather service said Sunday.

The U.S. Drought Monitor upgraded Long Island to severe drought status on Thursday with August the driest on record since 2005.

Monday's rain starts a trend that lasts, off and on, through Tuesday and possibly Wednesday morning.

"A slow moving frontal system will bring locally heavy rain to the region late Monday through Tuesday. This could lead to flash flooding. The Weather Prediction Center has placed the region is a slight risk for excessive rainfall," the weather service said Sunday afternoon.

Wunsch explained that flooding becomes more likely when it's been dry and the ground can't absorb water as well. “Any moderate to heavy rain will not absorb into the soil that well,” he said.

The showers continue Tuesday and the cloud cover will keep the temperature cooler with a high in the mid-70s and an overnight low of 62, according to the weather service.

On Wednesday, the rain may linger through the morning but then the sun returns, mixed with clouds with a high in the upper 70s. Sunny skies are predicted to continue for the rest of the week with the high in the upper 70s Thursday and lower 80s on Friday. The lows will drop to the low 60s.