The National Weather Service said Long Island will have mostly sunny skies Friday, even if the temperature is only expected to go from the current 31 degrees to a high of about 40.  News 12 meteorologist Rich Hoffman has the forecast. Credit: News 12 Long Island

It’s cold outside this early Friday. And don’t expect it to get much warmer any time soon.

The good news, though, is it isn’t raining. Or snowing.

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It’s cold outside this early Friday. And don’t expect it to get much warmer any time soon.

The good news, though, is it isn’t raining. Or snowing.

In fact, the National Weather Service said Long Island will have mostly sunny skies Friday — even if the temperature is only expected to go from the current 31 degrees to a high of about 40.

Of course, gusting winds figure to keep the wind chill to somewhere between 15 and 25 degrees, the weather service said. Brrrr.

The cold air mass looks like it will be around for a while, too.

The weather service said temperatures are expected to dip into the mid-20s Friday night with a high of just 37 degrees being called for Saturday.

Sunday won’t be much warmer, barely breaking 40 degrees. The same goes for Monday.

Forecasters said the Island won’t see 50 degrees again until Tuesday, when a high of 54 degrees is expected. But, those forecasters also said there will be rain then, too, so it’ll all be a trade-off.

Meanwhile, the weather service has released wind gust figures from Thursday, when howling winds swept across Long Island.

Stony Brook saw gusts as high as 66 mph at 12:31 p.m., the weather service said. Orient had gusts of 56 mph at 10:01 a.m. and 55 mph in Eatons Neck at 11:59 a.m.

At least 20 locations in Suffolk recorded gusts of over 40 mph, while wind gusts of 40 mph were also recorded in Uniondale at 7:50 a.m. Thursday and in Merrick at 11:50 a.m.

Most of the wind gusts in Nassau were in the 30-plus mph range, the weather service said.

A small craft advisory remains in effect for the Long Island Sound and for South Shore waters from Jones Inlet to Fire Island Inlet and will remain in effect until about 7 p.m. Friday, the weather service said.

The gale warning that had been in effect for those waters has been canceled. However, a gale warning remains in effect from Moriches Inlet to Montauk Point and will remain in effect until about noon.

A trip to the emergency room in a Long Island hospital now averages nearly 4 hours, data shows. NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie reports. Credit: Newsday Staff

'I'm going to try to avoid it' A trip to the emergency room in a Long Island hospital now averages nearly 4 hours, data shows. NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie reports.