Winter weather forecast for Long Island: 2 weeks of cold are coming

Long Island is in for a two-week cold snap, meteorologists said, as arctic air moves into New York. But little snow is predicted. 

"A significant pattern change is expected across much of the country," according to the National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center, which predicted an "arctic outbreak" will be moving over areas including New York and the Southeast.

The cold front is expected to bring "exceptionally high probabilities" of cold and below-freezing temperatures "across much of the East," the weather service said.

Forecasters said temperatures will get progressively colder here from this week into mid-January. The arctic air is flowing from central Canada into the region due to a low-pressure system to the north and a high-pressure system to the south, that reinforces cold air into the region, said Matt Wunsch, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Upton.

Temperatures through the rest of this week are expected to see highs in the mid- to upper 30s, and lows in the low 20s, with similar temperatures next week, according to the weather service.

"Through the next week, temperatures may be in a general downward trend toward the end of next week," Wunsch said. "We may be stuck in this pattern from this gusty northwest flow and it should stay mostly dry and cold."

The cold front, however, is not expected to bring much snow to Long Island. Parts of the region could see a couple of inches of light snow Monday. But that stormfront is currently tracking south, Wunsch said.

"It doesn’t look like there’s any major system in the foreseeable future," Wunsch said. "We might get a few snow showers, but it doesn’t look significant unless it turns north. Right now, at most it may be a couple of inches."

The Climate Prediction Center said the long-range forecast is predicting the coldest weather of the season for some parts of the Southeast.

It's a stark contrast from recent temperatures in the 50s and even reaching the low 60s when rain and thunderstorms moved over New York between Christmas and New Year's Day. But for Long Island forecasters have not predicted the cold temperatures, with highs in the 20s and lows in the teens, that the region experienced the week before Christmas.

Nevertheless, the cold front could bring "dangerous wind chills," including on Long Island with wind chills starting this week in the low 20s, forecasters said.

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.