Chilly weekend forecast for Long Island, with a chance of snow on Sunday

Last-minute Christmas shoppers and those celebrating the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah on Long Island will contend with chilly weather this weekend -- and even a chance of snow Sunday -- but no flakes are expected to fall on Christmas, according to the National Weather Service.

Saturday's high is expected to top 37 degrees, with mostly cloudy skies. On Sunday, forecasters are predicting a "chance of snow" before 9 a.m., followed by drizzle and flurries by noon. The high will top about 41 degrees and a low of about 31 degrees is forecast.

Rain is predicted to fall on both Monday and Tuesday, forecasters say, with temperatures in the 40s.

Forecasters are predicting a rainy Christmas Eve.

There's an 80 percent chance of precipitation Wednesday -- Christmas Eve -- when temperatures will top out at an unseasonably warm 53 degrees, according to the weather service.

The rain is predicted to end on Christmas Day, when the forecast calls for mostly sunny skies and a high near 49 degrees and a low around 35.

So, sorry, no "White Christmas," forecasters say.

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.