October on track to one of driest ever on Long Island, NWS says

Unless there is a meteorological "October surprise," this month is shaping up to be Islip’s driest on record, following a record-breaking dry September, National Weather Service meteorologists said.

Although there are chances for drizzles and showers across the island Tuesday and late Thursday, "it’s looking unlikely" precipitation levels will be enough to clear the current 0.18- inch record for Islip’s driest October, which was recorded in 2000, said David Stark, a meteorologist stationed at the National Weather Service’s Upton office.

September was the driest on record for Islip, with just 0.24 inches of rain recorded, National Weather Service meteorologists previously told Newsday.

The weather service predicts "some light rain or drizzles" Tuesday afternoon and evening, Stark said. There is another chance of showers late Thursday evening into Friday morning, but Stark said any rainfall that splashes down after midnight Thursday will not count toward October levels.

On Thursday evening, Halloween, trick-or-treaters can anticipate temperatures "10 to 15 degrees above normal" for the holiday, NWS Upton meteorologist James Tomasini said. Islip’s warmest Halloween was 73 degrees in 2004, he added.

"Right now, we are forecasting right around there," Tomasini said. "There’s potential there to tie or even break the record."

Besides the lack of rainfall, this past weekend was dry with regard to low humidity levels. On Saturday, the weather service issued a red flag warning, which caution that brush fires could spread rapidly as humidity levels drop below 30% and frequent wind gusts blow in excess of 25 mph, Stark said.

The day prior, firefighters battled brush fires as well as structure fires that ravaged retail shops on downtown Main streets in Sayville and Westhampton Beach, displacing more than a dozen residents of apartments above storefronts in the latter area.

Humidity levels are not expected to drop to warning levels for the rest of the week, Stark said. Humidity "will be on the rise" Tuesday and hover around "around 65%" Wednesday and Thursday, he added. This weekend, humidity levels will dip down to "around 40% or 50 %," according to the meteorologist.

"We’re not going to be seeing as dry conditions as we’ve been seeing the last few days," Stark said.

With Maureen Mullarkey