Rain in today's forecast as 'abnormally dry' conditions continue on Long Island

Look for scattered rain, drizzle and sprinkles on this first day of October, lasting into Thursday afternoon, forecasters said.

The rain -- a possible tenth of an inch in areas closer to the city, a quarter to half an inch on the East End -- could in a small way help address September's rain deficit of 1.96 inches. That's compared with the monthly norm of 3.58 inches, according to National Weather Service data.

"Abnormally dry" conditions continue on Long Island, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, with September registering just 1.62 inches at Long Island MacArthur Airport, where the weather service has maintained the Island's official records for the past 30 years.

Conversely, the month's average temperature of 67.4 degrees was 1.8 degrees above the norm -- with both above average highs and lows contributing. Though people have spoken of cooler than usual weather, they may "think that normals are much higher than they are," said Lauren Nash, weather service meteorologist based in Upton.

Looking to October, the Climate Prediction Center is indicating an equal chance of above, below or right at normal precipitation, which is 3.79 inches of rain or liquid equivalent. As for temperatures, there's a slightly better chance for above normal temperatures than for at or below normal, which is 54.3 degrees.