LI's Beautiful Weather Set To Take A Turn — Just In Time For Weekend

LONG ISLAND, NY — Mother Nature brought a burst of beauty to Long Island Thursday, with sunshine and blue skies marking the day. But there's a shift ahead, according to the National Weather Service, and you might be trading your sunglasses for a rain slicker.

Bryan Ramsey, meteorologist with the NWS office in Upton, said a frontal system is approaching the Long Island area Thursday night through the first half of the weekend. That warm front will kick off Thursday night and continue through Friday morning, with a line of showers and, possibly, a "few rumbles" of thunder.

A cold front will then move in Friday night through Saturday, bringing another round of rain to Long Island, he said. Next, another low pressure system will bring "unsettled weather" through the end of the weekend and into next week, with rain continuing every day and night until close to the end of next week.

'The nice weather we've been having looks like it's coming to an end," Ramsey said.

Rain totals should only amount to about a tenth of an inch Thursday and Friday, with a bit more if thunderstorms roll through, Ramsey said. With the next system on Saturday and Sunday, about a half inch to an inch-and-a-half of rain is expected, he said.

Temperatures, however, will remain balmy, Ramsey said, hovering in the mid-60s on Long Island's South Shore Thursday night and Friday, with residents inland seeing temps into the mid-70s — and in some parts of northern Nassau, even the upper 70s, he said.

Lows Friday night could dip to the mid-to-upper 50s, and then, the warm weather is expected to continue Saturday, with highs in the upper 60s to low 70s, Ramsey said. Next week, temps should remain in the 60s through Wednesday, possibly reaching "touching the 70s" on Thursday, he said.