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Winter snowstorm: Seven to 11 inches of snow projected for East End

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7:50 a.m.

Predicted snowfall totals have increased for the East End of Long Island, with the National Weather Service now projecting between 7 and 11 inches of snow Saturday.

A winter storm warning is in effect until 1 a.m. Temperatures are expected to remain in the low 20s with wind gusts of up to 30 miles per hour.

Original Story

For those who were overjoyed to see snow Friday morning can look forward to more of the white, fluffy stuff Saturday — a lot more.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning between 7 a.m. Saturday and 1 a.m. Sunday. Southold Town is expected to get an additional 4 to 8 inches of snow starting at 8 a.m. Saturday.

“It’s going to be cold,” NWS meteorologist Brian Ciemnecki said, adding there will be below-freezing temperatures Friday, Saturday and Saturday night.

Temperatures are expected to reach a high of 29 degrees Saturday, with wind chills at 10 to 15 degrees. On Friday, about four inches of snow covered the North Fork, the NWS reported.

Mr. Ciemnecki said “dry, powered snow” is expected to taper off Saturday between 10 p.m. and midnight.

Given the forecast, local elected officials and highway departments are getting ready for the impending storm.

Southold Town Highway Department crews are already creating mixtures of sand and salt to put on the roads either later Friday night or early Saturday morning as the snow begins, highway department superintendent Vinny Orlando.

“If the wind does pick up, it makes conditions pretty tough,” he said. “Right after our guys plow the road, it gets covered again with snow.”

Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell said highway crews are “standing by and ready to work.”

“All of the equipment and all of the crews are on top of everything,” Mr. Russell said in an email. “We haven’t activated emergency operations and really don’t see a need to; however, we will monitor the forecast, and if it changes dramatically, we will. In the meantime, the team stays in regular communication.”

Greenport Village Mayor George Hubbard Jr. said the village is asking for residents to remove parked cars from the street so plows can get through Saturday. Any cars parked on the road will be ticketed, he said.

“We hate to have to do that, but we have narrow streets and need to get a plow down there,” he said. “It was pretty this morning, the trees looked nice. We had our tune up for tomorrow today. We’re ready to go.”

Check back for more storm coverage.

Photo: Main Road in Mattituck quickly began to accumulate snow on Saturday morning. (Credit: Joe Werkmeister)