How cold will it be on Long Island?
Robert Vitali, of Central Islip, walks on the shoulder of Suffolk Avenue in the frigid cold as snow-covered sidewalks hinder his usual walk Sunday. Credit: Newsday / James Carbone
Sunny skies will provide little relief from the brutally low temperatures expected to persist on Long Island throughout the coming week, according to the National Weather Service.
Weather service meteorologist Jay Engle said Sunday the region hasn't broken any records during the current cold streak and is unlikely to do so as temperatures could climb above 32 on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“Temperatures are going to remain below normal, and then we'll have another shot of arctic air towards the weekend, probably late Friday into Saturday,” he said.
The record low for Long Island remains -14 degrees, reached on Feb. 13, 1967, according to previous Newsday reporting. The coldest month was in January 1977, which saw an average temperature of 21.6 degrees.
Starting around Jan. 24, the region has seen eight consecutive days of subfreezing weather, half the record cold spell, which lasted 16 days in 1979, according to weather service data.
Monday is expected to be sunny with a high temperature of about 30 degrees, but with wind chill values between zero and 10. At night, the thermometer is expected to drop to around 13 degrees.
The sunny skies and frigid weather remain into Thursday, which will likely see a high of 29 degrees, forecasters predict.
By Friday, snow could return to Long Island and the mercury will hold steady until Saturday, when it will dip again to a balmy 22 degrees.
Nighttime temperatures this week will hover in the teens until Saturday, when it’s predicted to drop to 6 degrees.
The sunny start to the week will give marmot meteorologists a good chance to glimpse their shadows Monday, Groundhog Day. That means, according to folklore, winter could drag on for six more weeks this year.
Though this week’s chilly weather could send Holtsville Hal and Malverne Mel burrowing even deeper, trying to get warm in the subfreezing temperatures that continue to brutalize Long Island.
Despite the closing of the zoo at the Holtsville Ecology Site and Animal Preserve to the public, folks can still log on at 7:25 a.m. Monday to see how log winter will last. Mel, Hal’s Nassau counterpart, is also scheduled to emerge from his den a little earlier — 7 a.m. — near the gazebo at Chester A. Reese Veterans Memorial Park. That event is open to the public.
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