Long Island weather: Temperatures at Islip hit 76, staying shy of record, with cooler Easter Sunday on tap 

Temperatures on Long Island will be cooler Easter Sunday after an unseasonably warm Saturday that threatened to break records but missed the mark, forecasters said.

Islip hit 76 degrees on Saturday, well below the record of 82 degrees reached in 1985, according to government records, but still high for this time of year, Newsday meteorologist Rich Von Ohlen said. 

So far this year, March 29 had tied the record high at 82 degrees, but since then temperatures have hovered in the 60s.

National Weather Service meteorologist Matthew Wunsch told Newsday that depending on the breeze off the water, some towns along the North Shore could have reached into the 80s. But Islip is where the weather service keeps records. Temperatures were between 15 and 20 degrees above normal for this time of year throughout the region, the weather service said.

"This time of year, it’s very dependent on the wind direction," he said in an interview. "Because we have more of a southerly flow off the ocean, it’s a better chance it will stay cooler."

Von Ohlen said that had winds been blowing from a different direction, the area could have come closer to the record.

"You need a westerly breeze to keep the temperatures going up," he said.

The thermometer rose to 84 degrees in Central Park, according to the weather service. Further east, near the Twin Forks, temperatures barely reached the mid-60s, records show.

Temperatures will dip into the mid-50s on Saturday night, when there could be some showers and a remote chance of a brief thunderstorm, the weather service said.

Sunday is expected to be sunny and seasonal, with temperatures in the 60s during the day. But temperatures could drop below freezing on Sunday night and Monday morning, according to Wunsch.

"As we get into Sunday night and into Monday morning, temperatures could drop back down into the 30s for some parts of the Island," he said. "So, we do have a potential for some frost as we get into Monday morning."

With Sam Kmack