Long Island weather: 6 inches of snow possible Sunday

Get ready for a Sunday storm that may dump six inches of snow after a sunny Saturday, forecasters said.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm watch for Sunday for Long Island, starting after midnight Saturday through the day Sunday. Accumulating snow is expected from late Saturday night into Sunday, the weather service said.

"Right now, we’re expecting about six inches of snow," meteorologist Jim Connolly said. "Officially it’s a five- to seven-inch range forecast for all of Long Island."

The daytime high Sunday will be in the lower 30s. Snow is coming from a coastal system heading toward Cape Cod from the Carolinas.

Connolly said snow tapers off early evening Sunday, with dry weather into Monday but cold with a high of about 30 degrees.

The weather again will alternate between fine and stormy days early next week, with Monday expected to be sunny ahead of possibly more snow and rain on Tuesday, the National Weather Service said.

Highs will be in the 40s on Tuesday, when the weather service says there again is a 50% chance of rain and snow.

Wednesday and Thursday should be at least partly sunny with highs just around freezing, the weather service said.

While much of Long Island still has a fair amount of snow, anyone flood-weary can take comfort in the longer-term forecasts through Feb. 17.

"There are no indications of any widespread heavy rain event or significant snowmelt," the weather service said. "Any snowmelt that does occur should only result in minor rises in river levels."

Estimates for how much snow is sticking around range from nine to 18 inches, with lesser amounts on the East End, the weather service said. The equivalent amount of water in the areas with more snow is 2 to 3½ inches and less than an inch out East, it calculated.

However, at least Saturday sounds inviting: Sunny skies with a daytime high around 40 degrees, though southwesterly winds gusting up to 25 to 30 miles per hour will make it feel like 20 to 30.