Rain, maybe snowflakes Sunday into Monday with normal temperatures Saturday, forecasters say

Temperatures reached well into the 40s on Saturday — "right around normal" for this time of year — but the weather could turn very wet by Sunday night, with the National Weather Service saying the Island could be inundated by heavy rain accompanied by thunderstorms and strong winds.

After a tranquil start to Sunday, the weather service expects about 1 to 1 ½ inches of rainfall for Long Island starting late Sunday night, NWS meteorologist Joe Pollina said Saturday morning.

The weather service on Saturday afternoon also issued a gale watch for Monday through Monday night for area coastal waters, meaning that sustained winds could reach up to 54 mph off the coast.

The rain is expected to continue through Monday and taper off around daybreak on Tuesday. It could produce snowflakes over western portions of the Island late Monday night, Pollina said.

"Other than that, it’s an all-rain event with possibly some isolated thunderstorms," he said. Pollina said temperatures this weekend would range from the upper 40s to upper 50s.

On Sunday, the weather service expects temperatures to again reach into the mid-40s and warm to the mid-to-upper 50s ahead of an approaching cold front, he said. Because of relatively colder waters, temperatures will be slightly lower along the coastline, Pollina said.

Temperatures are then expected to drop midweek as an “unseasonably cold” air mass settles into the area but the weather should be mainly dry, according to the weather service.

By Arielle Dollinger

arielle.dollinger@newsday.com@aridollinger

Arielle Dollinger joined Newsday as a staff reporter in 2022. Previously, she covered local and national news as a freelancer for The New York Times, Newsday and other outlets.