Snow continues to fall across the Riverhead area Thursday morning, as a storm that dumped more than a foot of snow in parts of western Suffolk and Nassau moves away from the coast.
Moderate snow bands are still moving across eastern Long Island, where the National Weather Service says another inch or two of accumulations are possible before the snowfall ends.
A winter storm warning remains in effect on the North Fork until 8 a.m.
Riverhead Central School District and other area schools announced two-hour delayed openings this morning. At about 7:15 a.m. Riverhead school district officials announced the district would remain closed today. See list.
Riverhead Town Supervisor Laura Jens-Smith declared a winter snow event at 9:45 p.m. yesterday. No parking is permitted on either side of any roadway until the order is lifted.
“We have all our roads plowed. We are out salt-sanding everything,” Deputy Highway Superintendent Mike Zaleski said this morning.
“The roads in Riverhead Town are in good shape,” Zaleski said.
Riverhead Highway Department crews worked through the night plowing, he said.
Zaleski said there seems to be about six inches of snow on the ground in Riverhead, with light snow still falling.
““Once again, we got lucky,” Zaleski said, noting that some locations in western Suffolk saw much higher snow amounts.
According to the National Weather Service, 19 inches was reported in Patchogue and Bay Shore, nearly 17 inches in Commack and 15 inches in Islip.
“But we prepared for the worst and we were ready. Our guys do a great job,” Zaleski said.
The timing of the storm and its delayed arrival — much later than what had been forecast — proved tricky for the department, where employees who came to work at 7 a.m. yesterday worked through the night and have another work day starting at 7 this morning, Zaleski said.
After the snow ends, skies should remain cloudy across much of Long Island, according to the National Weather Service forecast. Despite snow cover, high temperatures will still reach the lower and mid 40s, according to the forecast.
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