Just as the white stuff was melting from a string of storms, Long Island was buried again—this time by a blizzard that not only dumped record snowfall but lashed the East End with hurricane-force winds.
The National Weather Service reported a record 29.1 inches of snow at MacArthur Airport, surpassing the previous mark of 27.8 inches set in 2013, if made official. A staggering 31 inches fell in Central Islip, setting a new storm record for the Islip area. By contrast, Greenlawn saw 11.3 inches, the lowest total reported in Suffolk.
Snow fell at rates of up to several inches per hour during peak banding, leaving many South Shore residents digging out from nearly two-and-a-half feet of heavy accumulation.
Wind proved just as historic. At the Montauk Point Lighthouse, gusts hit 88 mph Monday morning, solidly in hurricane-force territory. Both the governor and Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine declared states of emergency, banning non-emergency vehicles from roads to give workers space to deal with the heavy snow.
Tuesday broke sunny as the massive storm passed out to sea. Schools were closed and many functions of daily life were put on pause as people focused on digging out. Officials urged caution as hospitals reported an uptick in heart attacks and other snow-related issues. They urged caution with space heaters and other fire risks.
The powerful winds also contributed to widespread outages. As the storm raged, more than 40,000 PSEG Long Island customers lost power. An army of 800 PSEG workers pulled 16-hour shifts, joined by over 200 off-island personnel assessing and repairing damage.
As residents reminisce about the record snowfall and hurricane-force gusts, they’re not so thrilled about additional storms in the forecast, though expected to be not as severe, during a February that won’t be soon forgotten.