Long Island weather: Drying out and mild, sunny days ahead

After a damp start, sunshine returned Tuesday along with mild temperatures that feel more like September, the National Weather Service said.

There is a 20% chance of an isolated shower for the rest of Tuesday, with another warm high of 66 degrees — up to 10 degrees above what's normal for this time of year. But sunshine has peeked through clouds, and, later, fog should arrive overnight.

Then, Wednesday, after early morning fog, it should become the first of a string of sunny, unusually warm fall days, forecasters said.

"Drier conditions are expected tonight as high pressure starts to build back into the region. There is also the potential for some patchy fog across the interior and portions of Long Island tonight. Dry conditions continue into the middle of the week as high pressure remains across the region," the weather service said.

Daytime thermometers over the next week will continue this mini-trend of unusually high autumn temperatures. Look for highs in the 60s and possibly a high of 70 degrees on Sunday, the weather service said.

Nighttime lows will slowly ascend from the upper 40s early this week to the upper 50s by Sunday.

By the weekend, however, that high pressure system will be building off shore, allowing sea breezes to sweep in, which will raise the humidity.

Sunday night and Monday share the same odds of rain — 30%.

Showers could arrive with a cold front, which raises warm air in front of it that can condense into raindrops.

However, an upper-level area of high pressure and winds coming from the south “could keep it relegated to areas north” of the New York metropolitan region, the weather service said.

As a result, it concluded there is only a “low probability of precipitation.”

Despite the recent patch of warm days, October's average temperature of 56.6 degrees was just two-tenths of a degree warmer than the mean for Islip, according to weather service records that date back to 1963. And this October was cooler than one year ago, when the average temperature was 61.2 degrees.