Long Island weather: Dreary, rainy Memorial Day weekend ahead

When it comes to dreary weather this Memorial Day weekend, forecasters at the National Weather Service predict we're in for a lot of it.

A lot of gray skies, a lot of rain — a lot of cold, damp, miserable weather.

"Right now, it looks like rain Saturday, with Saturday evening a washout, Sunday morning a washout, Sunday afternoon chancy, more rain Monday," weather service meteorologist Bill Goodman said Thursday,

He added: "The timing of it is just uncanny. We had this nice summerlike weather earlier this week — and we'll go back to nice summerlike weather after this weekend.

"But, this holiday weekend?" he said. "The timing couldn't be any worse."

Blame it all on a high pressure system in New England and a weather system moving into our area from Texas, Goodman said.

That second system figures to pull moisture from the Gulf, as well as from the Atlantic Ocean as it moves into our area.

All of which means rain, and, all likelihood, a lot of it.

The weather service is calling for a 60% chance of rain Saturday, a 90% chance of rain Saturday night into Sunday, an 80% chance of rain Sunday, a 30% chance of rain Sunday night into Monday and a 50% chance of rain on Memorial Day.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a Newsday reporter since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press, Society of the Silurians and National Headliner Awards for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing. He is the author of “Swee'pea,” about New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. His debut crime novel, “For Nothing Is Hidden,” rooted in 1950s Long Island, was released in October 2025.