A Nor’easter snowstorm, dubbed Winter Storm Lorraine, is expected bring heavy snow and coastal flooding when it hits the North Fork Monday and Tuesday.
The National Weather Service has announced a winter storm watch for portions of southeast New York and northeast New Jersey from late Monday night through 6 p.m. Tuesday evening.
Joe Pollina, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service, described what the North Fork can expect.
“It’s going to start off as all rain and then transition to all snow sometime after 7 a.m. it looks like for eastern Long Island,” Mr. Pollina said. “The snow will continue through the morning and then to the early afternoon tapering off by the mid to late afternoon timeframe. By the time tomorrow night rolls around precipitation will be pretty much all done.”
He said as of Monday afternoon, it looks like the East End could get anywhere from four to eight inches of accumulation.
“There’s the possibility that we could see a little bit more, depending on exactly where this low-pressure system that’s bringing all this precipitation, where exactly that tracks,” he said. “If it tracks further south, [that] would bring in colder air, more [precipitation,] so we would see higher amounts [of snow] if that were to occur. If it tracks closer to the coast, that would bring in warmer air and lessen [precipitation.]”
Northeast winds will reach 20 to 25 mph with gusts up to 40 mph, he added.
Local officials are recommending residents stay home if possible. If venturing out on the roads, experts recommend driving slowly and allowing for extra time during the morning and evening commutes.
Southold Town Supervisor Al Krupski in a phone interview Monday recommended residents “be prepared to stay at home and not go out on the roads.”
“If it’s heavy, wet snow, you might have a fallen tree limb or tree,” he said. “You want to let the highway crews, whether they’re the town, county or state, be able to clear the roads as quickly and easily as possible and the more traffic that’s on the roads makes their jobs way more difficult.”
Mr. Krupski said he started conversations with Southold’s emergency management team, including Town Police Chief Martin Flatley and Town Highway Superintendent Dan Goodwin “first thing in the morning.”
“We’re at a disadvantage because we’re dealing with mother nature,” he said. “We’re going to try to do the best we can and react accordingly and as the forecast changes … we’re changing our approach to how to best manage it.”
Riverhead Town Supervisor Tim Hubbard issued a Proclamation of a Winter Storm Event effective midnight Tuesday “for a period not to exceed 24 hours,” according to the proclamation.
“No parking is permitted on either side of any roadway during this winter storm emergency declaration,” the notice states.
The proclamation also urges that “all Town of Riverhead Departments take whatever steps are necessary to protect life and property and public infrastructure and to perform other such emergency assistance as deemed necessary.”
As of late Monday afternoon, area schools are starting to announce closures including Shoreham-Wading River and Riverhead. For more information visit the following websites.
Shoreham-Wading River Central School District – http://www.swrschools.org/
Riverhead Central School District- https://www.riverhead.net/
Mattituck-Cutchogue Union Free School District- https://www.mufsd.com/
New Suffolk Common School – https://www.newsuffolkschool.com/
Southold Union Free School District – https://www.southoldufsd.com/
Greenport Union Free School District- https://www.gufsd.org/
Oysterponds Union Free School District- https://www.oysterponds.org/