There’s not much snow on the ground this morning, but the snow that fell yesterday and last night is being blown around by very strong winds.
The blizzard warning has been canceled but a high wind warning remains in effect until 2 p.m. for northwest winds of 30 to 40 mph with gusts up to 60 mph.
Blowing and drifting snow will make travel difficult this morning, especially on roads surrounded by open fields which typically experience significant snow drifts.
“It’s getting worse, rather than better,” Southold Town Highway Superintendent Vincent Orlando said this monring. “This wind is just blowing the snow all over the place. We’re just chasing the snow.”
Some highway crews were sent home early this morning for rest while others were brought in, Orlando said. Drifting is occurring in typical areas on the North Road, Oregon Road, and near wide open farm fields, he said.
Orient, Orlando said, got hit hardest, with six to eight inches of snow reported, while the Southold area saw about three inches.
Residents who do not have to go out tonight are urged to stay home. Plummeting temps, blowing snow, black ice, and winds blowing horizontally will make conditions treacherous, he said.
The National Weather Service in New York, which canceled the blizzard warning as of 1:30 this morning, said the dearth of snow is explained by the development of “an area of sinking air” over Long Island, that prohibited substantial snow.
The sinking air, called a subsidence, is a feature that develops on a very small scale and it is difficult to predict its exact location, the National Weather Service in New York said in a Facebook post this morning. “If this area of sinking air was weaker or further north, we would have seen more snowfall,” the weather service said.
Surface temperatures will continue to plummet as arctic air rapidly spreads east across the region, the weather service said in a statement this morning.
A winter weather advisory remains in effect until 1 p.m. A wind chill advisory is in effect from 6 p.m. this evening until 9 a.m. tomorrow.
Closings, cancellations and delays
Cross Sound Ferry has canceled its casino connections for today as well as the following auto ferry departures: the noon, 4 and 7 p.m. ferries from Orient and the 10 a.m., 2 and 6 p.m. ferries from New London.
