Thursday's warmth breaks a record for Long Island; possible evening storms, NWS says

Thursday's balmy weather was also record-breaking, featuring a high of about 78 degrees for parts of Long Island and the region with a "slight chance" of a thunderstorm later, the National Weather Service said.

At Islip, the record had been 71, reached in 2010. At Kennedy Airport, the record had been 73 degrees, also set in 2010.

But the mercury is in for a bit of a dive.

After some possible thunderstorms, expected sometime after 6 p.m., with some briefly heavy rain, the incoming cold front is expected to bring nighttime low of a chilly 46 degrees.

On Friday, as the winds veer to the west-south-west, the high will top out at around 60 degrees, with the weekend seeing highs in the low 50s.

But a cloud-clearing high pressure system settling into Canada should help bring at least partly sunny skies through Wednesday.

“The temperature outlook through Saturday across the nation features a big cooldown across the East Coast on Friday and Saturday, with widespread below-average temperatures, while much of the western and central U.S. see a return of above-average temperatures reaching into the 60s and 70s by the weekend," the weather service said.

Next week will feature a gradual return to warmer weather, the weather service said, as temperatures rise through the week, peaking with a high of 70 on Thursday, the weather service said.