Long Island forecast: Cooler temps after a quick burst of snow

Long Islanders who enjoyed the warm weather earlier this week were likely in for a bit of a shock when looking out their windows on Thursday afternoon, with a healthy dose of mid-March snow falling across the region.

While the snowfall has already stopped west of Islip, the East End could continue watching the flakes pile for another hour, National Weather Service meteorologist  Dominic Ramunni told Newsday in a telephone interview around 8:30 p.m.

"We're still seeing a few flakes, but it's largely tapering," Ramunni said from his Upton office. "It's been sticking to the grass and the cars ... The grass was a little bit more patchy, and the pavement has just been wet. Even what's falling I think is going to melt away as we go later into the evening."

It remains "possible" the snowfall that landed on concrete and roadways could freeze while temperatures plunge into 20s this evening, "so I think it's warranted for folks out early tomorrow morning to be a little more vigilant" for some black ice forming, Ramunni said.

A tenth of an inch fell in Islip and two-tenths fell in Upton, according to Ramunni.

Following a short stretch of above-average temperatures earlier this week, Thursday marked the beginning of a return to normal March temperatures,  with highs in the mid 40s, the weather service said.

Snowfall is normal for March, weather service meteorologist Brian Ciemnecki said, while the 60-degree days were at least 20 degrees above average temperatures.

Average temperatures will continue throughout the weekend and into early next week, with highs in the mid to upper 40s and mid 50s on Monday.

Another system will bring more rain on Monday morning.

Tuesday, Saint Patrick’s Day, will be mostly dry but brisk and breezy with highs in the lower 40s.

"We're going to have this little roller coaster where we're going to be normal, and then on or above normal, and then back to normal or slightly below normal," Ciemnecki said. "It's kind of typical for this in the month of March. It can be volatile."

Newsday's Robert Brodsky contributed to this story.