Winter storm dumps heavy snow in local area Friday evening and overnight

A fast-moving storm dumped 6 to 8 inches of snow across the local area, beginning after dark Friday and ending before daylight Saturday.

All winter storm warnings, which had been set to expire at 1 p.m. Saturday, were cancelled by 6:30 a.m., the National Weather Service said.

The snow came down fast and furious at the outset. There was nothing subtle about it, according to Riverhead Highway Superintendent Mike Zaleski. A band of heavy snow kicked things off at about 6:30 Friday evening. 

“We were prepared,” Riverhead Highway Superintendent Mike Zaleski said in a phone interview Saturday morning. “At 7 p.m., every single truck was loaded and ready, and then, literally, we had two inches on the ground and in a half-hour,” Zaleski said.

Riverhead highway crews were out all night working to keep roads clear for the second time in two weeks, Zaleski said. That’s unusual for the month of December in recent years, he said. “This has been a cold December.”

Unlike the storm of Dec. 14, this one did not come with a lot of wind and that was helpful, the highway superintendent said. Very strong wind gusts two weeks ago blew snow around and made keeping east-west roadways open very difficult. 

This time, it was how fast heavy snow came down that complicated things — along with a personnel shortage. Zaleski said five crew members are currently out with the flu and a sixth is sidelined with an injury.The injury was unrelated to the storm, Zaleski said. That left the department with 29 crew members to operate plows, he said. “It’s been all hands on deck.”

Crews are now working to clear roads in developments Zaleski said this at 7:30 a.m.

“I ask people to be patient,” Zaleski said. As always, the department first concentrates snow removal efforts on main arteries, then secondary roads, before clearing side streets and roads in housing developments. 

Zaleski said he was pleased that crews were able to get main roads “down to blacktop” with plowing and sand/salt operations. Temperatures are forecast to rise above freezing Saturday, near 40º on Sunday and near 50º on Monday will help melt the snow accumulations, he noted, but temperatures falling below freezing during the overnight hours may make for icy conditions. The National Weather Service is forecasting freezing rain for the local area Sunday night, with ice accumulations of less than one-tenth of an inch possible.

There were multiple motor vehicle accidents Friday evening and during the overnight hours, with vehicles skidding off the roads, some crashing into utility poles or into the woods. Some accidents involved more than one vehicle. Overall, any injuries were minor. 

Snow accumulations of 6 to 8 inches were reported across eastern Suffolk County Saturday morning, according to the National Weather Service.

PSEG-Long Island is reporting only seven power outages across its system this morning, with one in Manorville off Ryerson Avenue, south of the L.I. Expressway, affecting an estimated 123 customers, and a second in Calverton on Southfield Road affecting fewer than five customers.

Riverhead Supervisor Tim Hubbard signed a local emergency order Friday afternoon declaring a winter storm event in the town, effective 4 p.m. The order prohibits parking on all town roads and authorizes town employees to take “whatever steps are necessary to protect life and property, and public infrastructure, and to perform other such emergency assistance as deemed necessary.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency in multiple counties, including Suffolk and Nassau, in advance of the storm yesterday.