Reduced air quality for Long Island on Friday with a summer-feel into the weekend
It is a nice evening now with temperatures expected to soar into the upper 80s for most of Long Island tomorrow. A few spotty rain chances return over the weekend.
More Stories
POOR AIR QUALITY FRIDAY
Elevated levels of ground ozone are expected tomorrow, leading the National Weather Service to issue an air quality alert for all of Long Island from 11 a.m. Friday to 11 p.m. Please do not overexert yourself, especially if you have health-related heart or respiratory conditions. You can still enjoy the outdoor summer-like weather, but just do so safely.
THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT
The weather remains great this evening and overnight with a partly cloudy sky and temperatures gradually cooling down into and through the 60s - enjoy! The wind will stay fairly light, too, with a southwest breeze around 5 to 10 mph.
NORTHERN LIGHTS CHANCE
There is an ongoing strong geomagnetic storm that could bring a peek at the northern lights down to Long Island tonight and overnight. These space weather forecasts are far trickier than our Earth ones, so this is far from a guarantee. That said, let your eyes adjust to the night sky and look north tonight and into early Friday morning. You will be even better off trying to just use your smartphone camera to take some photos - preferably a few seconds of long exposure to hopefully catch it. This is something that, if visible, is not visible the entire night, but more so appears in pulses when conditions are just right. Good luck and let us know if you see it by tagging News 12 Long Island and our team of meteorologists in any photos on social media.
DROUGHT UPDATE
Every Thursday morning, an update to our local drought conditions is released. It is not surprising that there is still a moderate drought across all of Long Island. My concern is that there is not really much of a threat for additional beneficial rain over the next 10 days, other than some spotty rain Saturday night into Sunday. These drought conditions may worsen in the coming weeks.
WEEKEND WEATHER: FAR FROM ANY WASHOUTS
Keep the outdoor plans for the weekend, but you may have to dodge a few showers and isolated thunderstorms after 7 p.m. Saturday and again Sunday afternoon and evening. Saturday will mostly be dry, hot away from the South Shore and more noticeably humid. Just keep in mind that there is a spotty rain chance during the middle to late evening hours. On Sunday, it will be nice and dry in the morning. There will be a spotty rain chance returning in the afternoon and evening. You will definitely notice the humidity more on Sunday, too. Much of the weekend will be decent.
WHAT THE START OF JUNE BRINGS
The start of June designates the beginning of meteorological summer as well as the start of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season. Here is the outlook for the upcoming tropical season and what a "strong El Niño" could mean: 2026 ATLANTIC HURRICANE SEASON OUTLOOK
EXTENDED FORECAST
TONIGHT: Partly cloudy and comfortable with lows in the upper 50s to middle 60s into Friday morning. There is a slight chance you may be able to see the northern lights from time to time overnight. This would be best seen through a smartphone camera. Wind: southwest 5 to 10 mph.
FRIDAY: AIR QUALITY ALERT -- A mix of sun and clouds. Hot, but not too humid. Avoid strenuous outdoor activities, especially if you have any respiratory or heart-related health conditions. Most high temperatures will be in the upper 80s to near 90 degrees. It will be cooler - middle to upper 70s - along the South Shore and East End. Wind: southwest 5 to 15 mph. UV INDEX: very high (9). POLLEN: Both grass and tree pollen levels remain high. BOATERS: No advisories. Overnight lows around 66 degrees.
SATURDAY: Sun and clouds. Hot and noticeably humid. Most of the day is still nice for beach and boating activities, but there will be a slight chance for a passing shower or thunderstorm after 7 p.m. Highs around 88 degrees. Lows near 67 degrees.
SUNDAY: Partly sunny with a few spotty showers and an isolated thunderstorm in the afternoon and evening. It is not going to be a washout. Keep the outdoor plans for now and check the News 12 APP throughout the day for hyperlocal updated radar and weather information. Highs around 82 degrees and humid. Lows near 60 degrees.
MONDAY: Becoming mostly sunny. More seasonable with highs around 74 degrees. Lows near 58 degrees.
TUESDAY: Mostly sunny with highs around 76 degrees. Lows near 60 degrees.
WEDNESDAY: Mostly sunny and warm with highs around 79 degrees. Lows near 58 degrees.
THURSDAY: Sun and clouds. Highs around 78 degrees. Lows near 59 degrees.
