Long Island weather: Sunny and warm

Tuesday was expected to be sunny, after dense fog in the morning, the National Weather Service said.

Alternating cold and warm fronts means that right now, only Tuesday and Saturday are predicted to be sunny in the next seven days, as there is at least a 30% chance of downpours every other day.

Tuesday’s daytime high should hit at least 68 degrees, the forecasters said.

And yes, these autumn temperatures in the greater metropolitan area are surprisingly warm. Islip’s record of 72 degrees was set in 1999, according to the weather service, whose records started in 1963.

Should Islip thermometers reach as high as 70 degrees on Tuesday, that will beat by one day the previous record of three days of atypically warm November weather, weather service meteorologist Nelson Vaz said by telephone.

"We just tied (the record) on Nov. 7 to 9," he said. "There is a pretty good potential we do breach that today."

Islip’s records reveal that consecutive days of surprising warmth in November occur about every 20 to 30 years, he added.

Wednesday’s Veterans Day likely will begin with more fog and turn soggy, but most likely not until after 3 p.m., said the weather service, which put the odds of showers at 60%. And despite the clouds it will once again be unusually warm, with a high during the day of 68 degrees.

A typical Long Island November has a high of 53.2 degrees, a low of 37.1 and a mean temperature of 45.1, the weather service said.

Downpours probably will continue Wednesday night and last through Thursday, with the weather service putting the odds of that forecast at 90%. But the weather service does not foresee troublemaking downpours.

"Rain totals of 1 to 2 inches are forecast Wednesday through Thursday and with such a long period of time to spread the rain, this will mitigate most hydrologic issues," the weather service said, cautioning there may be what it terms minor nuisance flooding.

A high near 64 degrees is expected Thursday.

Friday has a 30% chance of showers, and it will be a bit cooler during the day: 58 degrees.

Saturday looks sunny with a slightly lower daytime high of 53 degrees, the forecasters said, though nighttime skies may be overcast.

Even if Islip fails to set a record high temperature on Tuesday the rest of the metropolitan area centered in New York City might, the weather service said.

For the metropolitan area that encompasses Islip, the weather service said Tuesday: "High temperatures today will once again be in record-breaking territory with highs in the upper 60s and low to middle 70s, about 10 to 20 degrees above average."

Locations the forecasters track in this region include Newark Liberty International Airport, where a record of 73 degrees was set in 1999; New York City, where the record was 73 in 1985; LaGuardia Airport, where a record of 75 was set in 1999; and Kennedy Airport, which hit 72 that same year.