Warm, not white Christmas for Long Island; roads, airports expected to be busy

Christmas may not be white this year, but it will certainly be warmer than usual.

The National Weather Service has forecast temperatures reaching 50 degrees across Long Island Monday, continuing through the workweek.

“Normal for [Christmas] is the low 40s actually, so we’re looking at about 8 to 10 degrees higher,” National Weather Service meteorologist James Tomasini said.

Conditions should also be mostly dry for the holiday, Tomasini said. There’s a slight chance of small showers Tuesday before rain is likely for Wednesday, when daytime temperatures will increase to the mid-50s, according to Weather Service projections.

Warmer-than-normal temperatures does not necessarily mean sunshine for Long Island this Christmas. Cloudy conditions in Suffolk and Nassau counties are expected to continue, Tomasini said. There is little to no wind in the forecast.

While the weather will be mild, the traffic on the roadways and at airports could be heavy at times from now through the New Year as AAA has projected holiday travel to return to pre-pandemic levels. The automobile and travel services agency forecast 115.2 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home this holiday season, a 2.2% increase from 2022 and the second most since the agency began offering projections in 2000.

But with schools and many offices closed, the best time to drive on Long Island this holiday week will be before noon with conditions worsening during afternoon drive, according to the AAA report.

For those who do need to commute to work or are looking to make a last-minute trip to or from New York City, the Long Island Rail Road will continue operating on a normal weekend schedule through Christmas Day before returning to its weekday schedule Tuesday.

Departures and arrivals are also up more than 10% this week at Long Island MacArthur and JFK airports, but so far that hasn’t led to any significant delays or cancellations, according to FlightAware, an online service tracking flight data.

Long Island MacArthur had zero cancellations in the past 24 hours and there were just two at JFK, FlightAware reported.

LaGuardia Airport in Queens, where air traffic is slightly down this year, also had just two flight cancellations Saturday into Sunday.

Tuesday will be the next day to watch out for possible delays at airports with the FAA reporting it as the third heaviest day for Christmas-week travel with more than 41,000 flights planned across the U.S. Peak holiday travel occurred Thursday and Friday with Christmas Eve and Christmas Day having the fewest flights, according to the FAA report.

Students off from school the rest of the week will have warm but sometimes wet weather, the weather service said. The chance of rain Wednesday night is 80%, with heavier downpours possible in some areas. Highs will be in the low to mid-50s.

Thursday is expected to be slightly cooler but still above normal; Friday could be colder, a high near 46 and a low near 31, the weather service forecasted.

With Tracy Tullis

By Grant Parpan

grant.parpan@newsday.com@GrantParpan

Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.