Techincally Long Island is part of the Piedmont that runs between the Appalachian Highlands, and the Gulf Atlantic Coastal Plain, and consists of what is classified as highland soils. The climate region is considered Humid Subtropical (Cfa) with the warmest months reaching over twenty two degrees celcius. The annual precipitation is between forty and eighty inches. Long Island is in the Midlatitude deciduous forest area. The information below is pulled from weather.com about Long Island City, Long Island which is representative of the region.
| Monthly Averages for Long Island City, NY (11101) | ||||||
| Column1 | Column2 | Column4 | Column5 | Column6 | Column7 | Column8 |
| Month | Avg. | Avg. | Mean | Avg. | Record | Record |
| High | Low | Precip | High | Low | ||
| Jan | 38°F | 27°F | 33°F | 3.65 in. | 72°F (2007) | -6°F (1882) |
| Feb | 42°F | 29°F | 36°F | 3.21 in. | 75°F (1985) | -15°F (1934) |
| Mar | 50°F | 35°F | 43°F | 4.36 in. | 86°F (1998) | 3°F (1872) |
| Apr | 61°F | 45°F | 53°F | 4.50 in. | 96°F (2002) | 12°F (1923) |
| May | 71°F | 54°F | 63°F | 4.19 in. | 99°F (1962) | 28°F (1907) |
| Jun | 79°F | 64°F | 72°F | 4.41 in. | 101°F (1966) | 44°F (1945) |
| Jul | 84°F | 69°F | 77°F | 4.60 in. | 106°F (1936) | 52°F (1943) |
| Aug | 83°F | 68°F | 76°F | 4.44 in. | 104°F (1918) | 50°F (1986) |
| Sep | 75°F | 61°F | 68°F | 4.28 in. | 102°F (1953) | 39°F (1912) |
| Oct | 64°F | 50°F | 57°F | 4.40 in. | 94°F (1941) | 28°F (1936) |
| Nov | 54°F | 42°F | 48°F | 4.02 in. | 84°F (1950) | 7°F (1875) |
| Dec | 43°F | 32°F | 38°F | 4.00 in. | 75°F (1998) | -13°F (1917) |
| Long Island City, NY (11101) Weather Facts | ||||||
| The average warmest month is July. | ||||||
| The lowest recorded temperature was -15°F in 1934. | ||||||
| The maximum average precipitation occurs in July. | ||||||
| The highest recorded temperature was 106°F in 1936. | ||||||
| The average coolest month is January. | ||||||
Okay that seems like quite a bit of technical knowledge so I want to also use my personal experience to describe it. Basically Long Island has mostly moderate temperatures all year, for a place with four seasons. Summers are hot and humid, August being especially humid, so sticky outside minutes after you leave the house your shirt is sticking to you. Fall is beautiful, here is where the midlatitude deciduos forest comes into play, the leaves all change colors in the fall, reds, oranges, yellows, purples etc. and we have a ton of different types of trees:Oaks(white and black), Maples(norway, red, silver, sugar), Sycamore, Birch, Beech, Dogwood, Hickory, Black Cherry, we also have tons of different kinds of pine trees. Winter is normally not unusually snowy or cold but it has it moments, a hat, coat and gloves are recommended though! Spring and Summer have quite a bit of rain, summer having large thunderstorms and lightning with warm rain, summer showers they are called. It rains for half an hour or an hour or more then stops the sun comes out and all is right with the world again, it is something to be experienced.
Let's talk about one of the most unique physcial features of the Long Island area, specifically the Fire Island National Sea Shore. Fire Island is a small barrier beach 2-4 miles south of Long Island protecting the southern coast from the direct waves of the Atlantic Ocean. There is an incredibly rare ecological community located there called Sunken Forest, bascially it is a whole ecosystem located between 2 sets of sand dunes with no vegetation growing higher than the dunes (the salty ocean air prevents growth above the dunes). There are rare plants, flowers and no roads here, even some American Holly trees estimated to be 300 years old. It is someplace to really go visit if you have a chance. Here is the link to Sunken Forest for those that want to check it out more:
Here is a link to an informative video, the link would not let me embed the video.
One last thing I would like to point out is the water needs of Long Island and its sources. Unlike New York City which draws its water supply from reservoirs in the Catskill Mts of upstate NY, Long Island has a huge aquifer system that supplies its water. Naturally filtered through the soil, sand and clay that make up Long Island the water that comes out of the tap is fabulous, just like those bottled waters that come from aquifers, we just had it naturally.
To leave you all I found this great video of a sunrise in Cherry Grove Fire Island, a special place to me since my grandparents have had a beach cottage over there for 50+ years and I spent my summers there as a child. I hope you enjoy. I apologize for the link, but embedding the video was not on option.
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