Wintry weather on way ahead of the ‘Big Game’

More winter weather is expected over the weekend, with 3 to 5 inches predicted for Saturday night into Sunday, topped off with a glaze of ice. “I’m expecting most of the snow to come late Saturday night and maybe sleet into Sunday,” Riverhead Highway Department Supervisor Mike Zaleski said. “[Friday] we prepared our whole fleet. All plows are on. I have most of my fleet already loaded with material.”

“We’re going to combat this storm as soon as, if not before, it hits the ground. I expect to sand everything, plow through [Saturday] night, and re-sand everything at the very end, so at least every road is covered and protected before Super Bowl kick off. It doesn’t look like a lot of winds, but it does look like pretty good, plowable snow.”

Southold Town also made preparations late in the week in anticipation of the impending weather, prepping vehicles, confirming routes for plow drivers and marking and clearing storm trains to deal with the snow-melt runoff. “We’re basically ready to go all the time. Trucks are hitched up, and we’re just waiting for the storm to get here at this point.”

But the wintry work may last well into next week as an additional 6-inches of snow may arrive overnight Tuesday into Wednesday. Back-to-back storms require extra planning, but Riverhead is ready to go with another 300 tons of salt on the way, Mr. Zaleski said. “We can handle back to back storms, but we got to make sure we pace ourselves.”

Officials are urging area residents to plan to do any needed traveling before the storm hits. As the temperature goes down, conditions will deteriorate. “If you do need to travel, give us more than enough room,” the Southold spokesperson said. “These are big vehicles out there with a lot of heavy equipment. At times we’re going to be broadcasting materials [such as salt on the roadway], so don’t follow us too closely. But the best thing is, if you can, plan on staying home.”

Mr Zaleski reminded residents to, “stay off the roads if you can, drive safe, get everything you need before the storm. The less traffic on the roads and the fewer cars parked on the roads makes our jobs more efficient, quicker and easier.”

Historically, Long Island sees the majority of its snowfall in February, with a yearly average of 10.6 inches reported since 1948, according to the weather station at Brookhaven National Laboratory. This is because the Atlantic Ocean stays relatively warm through December, turning most potential snow events to rain.

Winter weather snarled traffic and led to a two-hour delay for school openings on the North Fork and across the East End Thursday morning. While conditions were worse for those immediately east and north of Long Island, the snowfall, followed by a transition to a wintery mix and then rain, did make travel messy for the morning commute. 

Southold police reported several motor vehicle incidents Thursday morning. At 7:30 a.m. a vehicle in on North Road in Southold spun out and got stuck on the median. At 8:45 a.m. there was a minor accident on Eugene’s Road in Cutchogue where a vehicle left the road and struck a fire hydrant. No injuries were reported for either of these incidents. At 8:56 a.m. a car rolled over in front of the Sound View Hotel in Greenport after losing control due to roadway conditions, resulting in minor injuries. Riverhead police reported one minor motor vehicle accident with no injuries.