Sunny holiday weekend but rain chance for Labor Day, NWS says

The chance for showers has worked its way into the holiday weekend forecast, the National Weather Center said, with Labor Day looking the most likely to be wet.

Friday looks to be sunny with a high of 78 degrees and a low of a cool 63. Saturday looks similar, with abundant sunshine, a high of 80 and a low of 68.

Saturday is predicted to be partly sunny with a high in the low 80s, with similar conditions Sunday and a low of 68 both nights. But then clouds thicken and showers could start Sunday night with a 30% chance of rain between 8 p.m. and 2 a.m.

The Monday holiday unofficially sending off summer will bring a 40% chance of showers between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m., with a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2 p.m. It's otherwise forecast to be partly sunny with a high of 79 degrees and a low of 66.

“It doesn’t look like it’s going to be a total washout,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Joe Pollina. 

Long Island remains in a drought — considered by the U.S. Drought Monitor to be severe drought as of this week, and some monitoring stations have received less than an inch of rainfall over the last month, increasing the risk of fire spread, according to the weather service.

That could change “if we start to see more in the way of widespread rain,” Pollina said. “But right now, even with showers and thunderstorms in the forecast, it’s not widespread enough to make much of an impact.”

With Nicholas Spangler