Long Island forecast: Wind, snow and a cold week ahead

Partly sunny skies and temperatures just below freezing are in Long Island's Monday forecast before clouds thicken with a 50% chance of snow in the evening and more possible later in the week.

A quick snow squall passed through Long Island after 3 p.m. Sunday, setting the tone for the week ahead, the National Weather Service said.

Temperatures will dip into the mid-20s Sunday night with wind chills in the lower teens, Weather Service meteorologist Jay Engle said.

Monday will be cold, with a high of 31 degrees under partly sunny skies.

“Martin Luther King Day will be the coldest day of winter so far,” Engle said.

Tuesday could bring 2 to 3 inches of snow to Long Island. There's an 80% chance, mainly between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., according to the Weather Service.

Wednesday and Thursday are the only days this week without snow in the forecast, but temperatures will continue to hover at or below freezing.

“We’re going to average 5 to 7 [degrees] below normal,” Engle said. After dark, the low will dip into the high teens or low 20s both nights.

Cold weather is impacting most of the country, the Weather Service reported, with an “arctic blast” bringing dangerous wind chills to the Rocky Mountain region, and freezing temperatures extending from the West Coast to the Northeast and even reaching into parts of the South.

New York State officials are dealing with a dangerous lake-effect snowstorm impacting Erie County Sunday. Gov. Kathy Hochul issued a full travel ban for passenger vehicles in that county to allow plows to clear roads overnight.

Snowfall totals of 1 to 2 feet are expected in areas near Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, including Buffalo, with localized totals of up to 3 feet possible.

“Weather will be going downhill through the day in Western New York, bringing potentially life-threatening blizzard conditions,” Hochul wrote on X, formerly Twitter, Sunday morning. “My team is closely monitoring and is ready to assist.”

The NFL took the unusual step of moving the wild-card playoff matchup between the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers from Sunday to Monday afternoon as a result of the storm.

Locally, the anticipated snow and cold weather follows more than 2 inches of rain from a powerful, quick-moving storm that caused wind and flood damage along Long Island’s South Shore on Saturday morning. A Tuesday storm affected many of the same communities.

James Tomasini, a meteorologist with the Weather Service's Upton office, said strong southerly winds had forced water to inundate the South Shore coastal areas, leaving some streets impassable Saturday afternoon.

Freeport, Fire Island, Lindenhurst, Montauk and Patchogue were among the areas hit the hardest.

Hempstead Town officials said the storm also knocked down half a dozen trees while stripping away roughly 15 to 20 feet of the shoreline from Point Lookout to Lido Beach West. State Parks officials reported significant erosion in Montauk.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced an expedited review for storm-ravaged areas along the South Shore Saturday. Four Army Corps projects were identified as severely damaged in storms this month and in December: Fire Island Inlet to Moriches Inlet; west of Shinnecock Inlet; Fire Island Inlet and westerly shores; and downtown Montauk.

By Grant Parpan

grant.parpan@newsday.com@GrantParpan

Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.