Long Island weather: Threat of rain for weekend, temps near normal

A threat of rain showers lingers on and off throughout the weekend across Long Island as temperatures remain close to or just below normal, the National Weather Service said.

A weak disturbance coming from the northwest Saturday morning will keep an “interval of clouds and showers” over the western parts of Long Island, Jay Engle, a meteorologist with the weather service’s Upton bureau said just after 7 a.m.

“Very light showers” off to the west on Saturday morning “could sneak into Nassau County as we go into the next couple of hours,” Engle said. “They could get into western Suffolk, but the East End stays completely dry.”

Matt Hammer, a meteorologist with News 12 Long Island, said there’s a chance for a “brief downpour” in Nassau County Saturday morning. Otherwise, it will be mostly cloudy before showers start to get out of the way.

Morning clouds will linger but start to open up after 1 p.m. to allow for sunshine the rest of the afternoon, Engle said.

Saturday’s highs will be in the low-to-mid 70s, with the low overnight dipping into the low 50s as the weather is “clear and cool,” Engle said. The sky should be cleared for a “nice sunset” at 8:22 p.m., Hammer said.

The normal temperatures for this time of year at Long Island MacArthur Airport in Islip are 73 for the high and 56 for the low, Engle said. The high temperature Sunday will be around 70 degrees, Hammer said.

Sunday’s weather pattern may see an increase in clouds early on with a chance of rain and a possible thunderstorm around 2 p.m., Engle said. Sunday night looks “unsettled with showers and thunderstorms around.”

The steadiest period of rain will be Sunday night into Monday, Hammer said, as temperatures cool off into the mid 60s into Tuesday. For Wednesday, the high will be 66 degrees as the area starts to dry out for the end of the week, as temperatures reach back up to 70 by Thursday and Friday, Hammer said.