Long Island forecast: Clear but bone-chilling cold, then a Sunday-night storm

Temperatures on Long Island will dip into the single and negative digits, with the added wind chills Friday night into Saturday, the National Weather Service said, followed by a rainy and wind-swept Sunday night into Monday morning.

Friday overnight will be clear — and cold: temperatures will plunge to about 10 degrees and the wind chill will range from minus 5 to plus 5 degrees, with a north wind gusting to 33 mph, according to the weather service.

Saturday should be sunny, with temperatures rising to around 20 degrees, according to the weather service, but once again, the wind chill will be minus 5 to plus five, with wind gusts up to 29 mph. By Saturday night, look for temperatures at night to head toward a low of 10 degrees, and a slightly less severe wind chill of zero to 5.

Ahead of the temperature change Long Island officials have opened several warming centers.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman announced centers at Cantiague Park Administration Office at 480 W John St. in Hicksville; the Wantagh Administration building at 1 King Rd in Wantagh; and the Mitchel Field Administration Building at 1 Charles Lindbergh Blvd in Uniondale.

Huntington Town Supervisor Ed Smyth has opened the Dix Hills Ice Rink at 575 Vanderbilt Pkwy. as a warming center until Monday.

For Sunday, temperatures will reach a daytime high of 37 degrees, forecasters said. Snow is expected before 9 p.m., but it then will become a wind-swept rain. Around an inch of snow will fall, forecasters estimated before the switch-over, and wind gusts could hit 50 mph.

On Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, temperatures also should reach 44 with rain continuing until about 1 p.m.; the chance of rain is 70%.

That night, the low will slide to around 26 degrees, the weather service predicted.

The Tuesday to Thursday stretch should be at least partly sunny, with temperatures bouncing between the high 30s during the day and the mid 20s at night.

Coastal flooding possible

A coastal flood will be in effect from Sunday night to Monday afternoon for parts of Nassau and Suffolk counties, according to an advisory from the weather service.

Then a cloud-clearing low pressure system from the Carolinas starts dominating the New York region.

As the pressure strengthens, it should "track over or just to the west of the area Sunday night into Monday."

"This looks to be primarily a 12-hour event with respect to steady to heavy precipitation," the weather service said, estimating a maximum of 1.5 inches of precipitation.

With Joan Gralla