Long Island weather: A mild, sunny Friday before wet New Year's Eve

Friday's weather will be sunny and mild for this time of year, the National Weather Service said, but Saturday looks to be wet.

After a day in which the high is an above-normal 51 degrees, patchy fog will move in overnight and rain is likely Saturday afternoon and into the New Year's Eve's festivities, the weather service said. Temperatures will be mild, though, with a daytime high of 53 Saturday.

New Year’s Day on Sunday is expected to start out cloudy with the sun coming out in the afternoon, forecasters said, with a high of 54.

Mild air, the weather service’s Weather Prediction Center explained, is surging north around the high pressure system pushing into the Atlantic, so this possible “record warm territory” also could stretch into the blizzard-battled Great Lakes and Northeast.

For the tristate area, the weather service said, this system delivering mild southwest winds “will result in warming temperatures to close out the week.”

Saturday's rain is expected to be "moderate to possibly briefly heavy at times,” the weather service said, with just under an inch of rain is expected.

“Rain showers end early for eastern parts of the Twin Forks as well as southeast Connecticut … Dry conditions return Sunday afternoon and remain through Monday night," the weather service said.

Offsetting the mild temperatures expected for Sunday, westerly winds will gust as high as 30 mph.

After a sunny Monday, the weather service said, “the next rain chances (will be) Tuesday through Wednesday next week.”

Next week, look for the mild temperatures to continue, with daytime highs in the mid 50s.