Long Island weather: Chilly, rainy weekend on tap

A wet and "very chilly" weekend is on tap for Long Island with rain expected through Sunday and temperatures will not top the low 50s, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Jay Engle.

Saturday’s daytime temperatures will be in the upper 40s. Rainfall is expected to begin midday for most of Long Island and pick up momentum into Saturday night.

"Rain will start to spread from west to east during the next couple of hours," Engle said, adding it "will take a while to get out to the East End — probably not until this evening — but the rain becomes steadier late day into the evening."

The meteorologist told Newsday the total rainfall is expected to be from an inch-and-a-quarter to an inch-and-three-quarters, with Nassau County hit the hardest overnight.

"Most of the rain falls tonight and then the rain will gradually taper from west to east during the first half of tomorrow," Engle said. Clouds will linger on Sunday "but I think later in the day the rain will be a lot less, maybe even stopped.," he added.

Temperatures on Sunday will be in the lower 50s for most of the day.

Conditions get more comfortable on Monday with temperatures leaping 10 degrees and only a slight chance of rain.

"On Monday, things should be better. We should see mostly lower half of the 60s and upper 50s out east on Monday, with dry weather and a good amount of sunshine," Engle said.

By Sam Kmack

sam.kmack@newsday.com

Sam Kmack covers the Town of Islip for Newsday. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California and previously worked as a city watchdog reporter in the Phoenix metro area, as well as an investigative journalist at the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting.