Weekend a sizzler, heat continues next week: weather service

Those who like their holiday weekends hot and humid are in for a treat. This Fourth of July projects to be a sizzler, with temperatures on Long Island likely reaching the 90s, the National Weather Service said Thursday.

"We're looking at a transitioning pattern over the next few days," said meteorologist John Murray of the service in Upton. "Basically, we'll have a much warmer air mass coming into place this weekend."

That warm air mass, now sitting over the Great Plains, will push out a high-pressure front, Murray said, starting on Saturday. Vanishing along with the high-pressure front will be those comfortable days in the low 80s with low humidity that Long Islanders are enjoying this week, he said.

Starting Saturday and lasting into late next week, temperatures will be in the high 80s to mid-90s, with humidity reaching a high of 50 to 60 percent.

The hottest portions of Long Island will be northern Nassau County and northwest Suffolk County, Murray said. Ocean breezes will keep the South Shore about five degrees cooler during the heat spell.

Accuweather.com reports temperatures will hit the upper 90s to nearly 100 over parts of the I-95 corridor "from Massachusetts to Virginia at the height of the heat wave."

Murray said triple-digit heat could cover urban areas, including New York City, where pavement and black rooftops heats up and the built-up environment restricts cooling breezes.

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There might be some relief by next Thursday, Murray said, but even then temperatures should remain hot and humid. "I don't think it will be that big a break," he said.