Long Island weather: Winter weather returns Thursday, wintry mix into Friday

The warmth of Wednesday will be but a memory Thursday.

After a dramatic temperature drop overnight from Wednesday's record-breaking high of 68 degrees in Islip, Thursday will be cloudy and in the high 30s with wind chills between 20 and 30 degrees, forecasters said.

Then, a spate of nasty overnight weather with a wintry mix is forecast for Long Island Thursday night. But the snow and sleet will likely change to all rain early Friday, forecasters said.

While parts north and west were predicted to get up to six inches of snow and significant icing from the overnight storm, Long Island should be getting about two inches of snow, at most, and a "light glaze" of ice before the precipitation turns to plain rain, the National Weather Service said.

Nevertheless, the weather service cautioned, the Friday morning commute could be tricky.

A Wednesday night advisory said the timing of the change from snow and sleet to rain was dependent on when temperatures, in the 30s Thursday, begin to rise Friday morning.

"If warmer air aloft moves in quicker, then snow/sleet amounts will be reduced, but could introduce higher ice accretion amounts. If warmer air is slower, snow/sleet amounts could be higher, even at the coast, and could lead to less ice accretion," the weather service said.

Any ice accumulations will likely be higher on the North Shore, according to the weather service forecast.

The storm, which is approaching after sweeping cross-country, will begin after midnight as snow, then transition to a wintry mix with sleet and finally all-rain as temperatures rise to a high of 40 Friday, the weather service said. The chance of precipitation is 100%.

Friday will be gusty and wet most of the day, then clear at night and drop back to the low 20s, forecasters said.

The weekend looks sunny and slightly warmer, with daytime highs approaching 40, forecasters said. The sun stays out through Tuesday with highs between 30 and 40 degrees, the weather service said.