Afternoon sunshine, above-average temperatures for Election Day
Heckscher Park in Huntington on a beautiful fall morning. Credit: Rick Kopstein
If you plan to vote on Election Day, staying warm while standing in line outside will be the least of your concerns.
Tuesday’s forecast will reach the low 70s — well above average — and will be partly sunny, as the first full week of November will be warm and dry, the National Weather Service said.
Dominic Ramunni, a meteorologist with the weather service, said temperatures, which started chilly Monday, will be rising through the week.
"We'll warm up tomorrow [and] Wednesday, and then we'll kind of slowly come back down to reality as we slide into the weekend," he said Monday.
Tuesday night temperatures will drop into the high 50s with wind gusts as high as 21 mph.
Wednesday will be the warmest day of the week, with a high of 74 and mostly sunny with southwest winds 13 to 15 mph. Gusts could be as high as 16 mph.
Ramunni said Tuesday and Wednesday will see temperatures that are between 15 and 20 degrees above average.
"We probably won't break a record tomorrow, but it's very possible we will do that on Wednesday before we finally cool back down a little bit," he said Monday.
Temperatures will grow colder but still above average as the week ends, with highs in the mid-60s, and no significant rain in the forecast, the weather service reported.
"A widespread rain will probably not come until the late half of the weekend this coming weekend," Ramunni said. "We're still far enough away that there's a lot of wiggle room with that system. So not a slam dunk by any means."
Suffolk County Fire Rescue and Emergency Services urged residents on social media Sunday to be cautious and limit recreational activities due to ongoing dry conditions, such as open flames and recreational burns.
They also said to avoid burning on windy days, as even a small breeze can spread embers quickly.
The National Weather Service declared October the driest month on record, and the driest calendar month, since it began monitoring conditions at its climate center in Islip in 1963.
The U.S. Drought Monitor moved Long Island into "moderate drought" Thursday, the second of six levels ranging from no risk to "exceptional drought." The federal agency warned that the risk of ground fires and wildfires increases when a drought region reaches moderate status.
