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A snowy spectacle on Feb. 13

by Samantha Rutt - February 16, 2024

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By Samantha Rutt

Residents woke up to a winter wonderland on Feb. 13, as a snowstorm brought several inches of snow to the area. The storm, which began in the early hours of the morning and continued into the afternoon, leaving a picturesque scene across towns and villages along the North Shore.

Reports from local meteorologists indicated that the snowfall ranged from 4 to 6 inches in most areas, with some isolated spots receiving up to 8 inches. Strong winds accompanying the storm also led to drifting snow in certain areas, creating challenging conditions for morning commuters.

As a result of the inclement weather, several school districts in the region announced closures for the day, ensuring the safety of students and staff. Additionally, transportation authorities advised residents to exercise caution while traveling, as roadways and sidewalks were coated with snow and ice.

As the snow gradually tapered off throughout the day, municipal crews and private contractors worked diligently to clear roads and sidewalks, ensuring that normalcy could resume as soon as possible.

The environmental toll of rock salt

by TBR Staff - January 19, 2024

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By Gavin Scarlatos

Rock salt has long been one of the primary methods used for combating the onslaught of snow and ice during the winter season. Known for its accessibility and cost effectiveness, rock salt impedes ice formation by lowering the freezing temperature of water and is a common deicing agent used both residentially and by transit authorities.

The Town of Brookhaven Highway Department maintains numerous salt storage facilities with a combined rock salt capacity of nearly 25,000 tons. During any given snowstorm, the department sets out to treat its 3,700 lane miles of road with rock salt as a preventive measure against treacherous driving conditions. But the widespread dispersal of the sodium chloride chemical compound can lead to unintended consequences that have a negative effect on our trees and other landscape plants.

“Rock salt dries out and changes the pH of soil, and sometimes it even changes the form of fertilizer, so the plants can’t uptake the right amount of nitrogen and other available micronutrients,” said Nick Bates, Long Island district manager of The Davey Tree Expert Company.

Davey Tree is one of the oldest and largest tree care companies in North America, providing research driven environmental consulting, arboriculture and horticulture services.

“The part of the tree taking in the water from the soil are its fine root hairs,” Bates said. “Rock salt burns the root hairs very easily and dries out the tree’s roots substantially, so the tree won’t be able to pull up water as effectively as before and will dry out or even die off.”

Bates emphasized how this process varies depending on the type of the tree or plant, pointing out how plants growing near the coastline are able to handle the salt intake efficiently while the species of plants located closer to the middle of Long Island are more susceptible to salt damage.

“Arborvitaes and White Pines are most affected by rock salt,” Bates said. “Sometimes they are planted in traffic mediums and along highways. After the roads start getting salted, you’ll see the Arborvitaes turning a brown or yellow color while those planted away from the road will still be a nice, lush, beautiful green.”

Since exposure to rock salt is in some cases inevitable, Bates offered insight on how to best protect trees and other landscape plants against the damaging effects: “There’s quite a few things you can do. The best thing is to maintain the tree’s health in general, providing the tree with extra fertilizers will boost its ability to better handle external stressors. You can also give trees and plants extra water in the late fall before everything starts to freeze. Giving the trees a deep soaking means they’ll have more water in their systems for when the winter starts to dry them out. You can even give trees extra water in the spring as well, to help flush the rock salt out of the soil.”

Bates added a warning. “There’s a fine line,” he said. “You don’t want to keep the plants completely flooded so all of the air in the soil gets pushed out and filled with water. The roots still need to be able to breathe.”

Although traditional rock salt is still the cheapest and most practical deicing agent, there are more environmentally conscious alternatives that better protect plant life. Calcium chloride, while still damaging, does not burn the plants as badly as salt composed of sodium chloride, since it is less potent.

Another approach is to add sand or even sawdust into the rock salt mixture, providing traction in icy conditions while mitigating the impact on vegetation by reducing the amount of salt being used. Also, preparing for rock salt exposure ahead of time by spreading gypsum or lime on soil in the late fall will reduce rock salt’s negative effects on trees and other landscape plants.

“One of the best things to combat the effects of rock salt is to plant the right trees in the right spots. If you live on a main road where a lot of salt gets spread, you could plant trees that are less susceptible to salt damage, and that’ll make your life a lot easier and the trees a lot happier,” Bates said.

First snowfall of 2022 dumps half a foot of snow on Suffolk County, schools closed

by Rita J. Egan - January 7, 2022

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According to the National Weather Service, this morning residents along the North Shore of Suffolk County woke up to approximately 6 inches of snow.

East Northport in the northwestern part of the county came in at 6.5 inches of snow, while Mount Sinai out east at around 6 a.m. was reporting 5 inches.

Many school districts announced Thursday night that schools would be closed. The following districts are closed in TBR’s coverage area:

Cold Spring Harbor Central School District

Commack School District

Comsewogue School District

Elwood School District

Haborfields Central School District

Hauppauge School District

Huntington School District

Kings Park School District

Middle Country School District

Miller Place School District

Mount Sinai School District

Northport-East Northport School District

Port Jefferson School District

Rocky Point School District

Shoreham-Wading River Central School District

Smithtown Central School District

Three Village Central School District

Winter storm watch in effect for Thursday, Feb. 18

by TBR Staff - February 16, 2021

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150271328_4272441369451812_4105439678432606381_o — Image courtesy of the National Weather Service

A winter storm watch has been issued for Long Island in effect from early Thursday morning through late Thursday night with total snow accumulations of 4 to 8 inches, according to the National Weather Service.

“Plan on slippery road conditions. The hazardous conditions could impact the morning or evening commute,” said the announcement. It also warned of heavy snow which will also impact portions of northeast New Jersey, southern Connecticut and New York City.

For hourly updates, visit the National Weather Service Facebook page at www.facebook.com/NWSNewYorkNY

Editorial: Let It Snow

by TBR Staff - February 3, 2021

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General Services Plowing Madison Street3 — A truck from the Town of Huntington plows the street on Feb. 1.

The first day of February reminded us that winter is still here, and a foot or more of snow can fall from the sky at any time wreaking havoc on our everyday lives. Heavy snowfalls may be welcomed by skiers and children, but for everyone else the snow can be a nuisance and even a danger.

On Monday, as with previous storms, weather forecasters and elected officials reminded residents to stay off roads if they didn’t need to go out. In the past, despite those warnings, many found themselves still having to go to work. Nowadays, after trying to navigate business during a pandemic for months, companies have learned that a good deal of work can be done from home.

For nearly a year, employers and employees all over the country have embraced the use of email, Google, Zoom, messaging platforms such as Slack and more. Some in New York had no choice in the beginning as many businesses in the state that were deemed nonessential were required to close down. Others have chosen, even after the shutdowns were lifted, to continue having employees work from home to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.

The use of modern technology has kept the work flowing and employees connected. Many have found that their workers are more efficient as there are fewer distractions at home, and without having to deal with their commutes, many are willing to take the time they would have been in the car, bus or train and use it to do more work.

Working from home can be a game changer not only during long-term shutdowns or for taking care to keep employees healthy, but it can also be used when driving just isn’t wise, especially for workers who have strict deadlines to meet. Imagine, now employees on a snowy day are less stressed because they don’t have to worry about hazardous roads.

During a pandemic, the work-from-home option has helped to keep employees healthy, and on the day of a storm, it helps keep them safe. In turn, the fewer people on the road, the fewer calls police officers receive, which in turn keeps them safe, too. Because, it doesn’t matter what type of car a person has, whether big or small, if snow is blowing across the roads and visibility is compromised, it’s not wise to be on the road

Law enforcement and health care workers need to be out on the roads to get to their jobs to keep the public safe and healthy, the rest of our jobs aren’t as essential.

Let’s take what we’ve learned in 2020 and apply it in the future to keep residents safe. If there is one lesson that we can take with us from the pandemic, it’s that things can be done differently and still produce the same results.

Will there be more snow this winter? We don’t know, but what we do know we’re ready for it. Bring it on!

Update PSEG Expects to Restore Power to 3,444 Homes by End of Day

by Daniel Dunaief - December 17, 2020

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PXL_20201216_235729153 — Snow blanketed the ground as a winter storm hit the North Shore Dec. 16 into 17. Photo by Kyle Barr

*Update: This version of the story includes the number of homes who are still without power as of 4 p.m.

The Nor’easter that hit the east coast cut out power to thousands of homes on Long Island. By 4 p.m. on Thursday, the number of homes without power declined to 348. Earlier in the day, 3,444 homes were without electricity. PSEG Long Island said it had restored power to more than 98% of the homes affected by the storm.

PSEG LI expected to restore power to all homes by the end of the day.

“We expect to restore power to all remaining customers today,” PSEG LI said in a statement.

PSEG added personnel, including tree and line crews, to repair damage and restore outages. The utility had more than 1,300 line workers, tree trimmers, surveyors and other personnel on site to restore power.

“This storm brought down trees and wires throughout our service area,” John O’Connell, Vice President, Transmission & Distribution, PSEG Long Island, said in a statement. “We know that being without power for any length of time is a hardship and we thank our customers for their patience as we work through the damage and difficult conditions to restore their power [as] safely and quickly as possible.”

In an update on the storm, County Executive Steve Bellone (D) described the number of power outages as “good news,” as outages were a “big concern here because of the nature of the storm.” Bellone spoke with reporters at the Department of Public Works in Commack.

“We did not see a significant number of power outages in this storm,” Bellone added.

Bellone suggested that outages may have been lower because some of the limbs and trees that could have come down had already fallen or been removed.

Suffolk County Police Department Chief Stuart Cameron, meanwhile, thanked the Department of Public Works and the police department for working through the night.

As of 8 a.m., Chief Cameron said the county had 171 accidents since 4 p.m. the night before. Police were working on two active crashes, which is lower than they would normally have.

Chief Cameron also wanted to thank many residents of Suffolk County for heeding the advisory and staying off the roads.

Some of the ramps for the Long Island Expressway still had plenty of snow and slush on them. Chief Cameron advised drivers to consider taking the next ramp, if their exit appeared challenging from the conditions.

Chief Cameron also urged residents to give themselves plenty of time to clear their car of snow and ice before they need to leave their homes.

“My car was heavily iced,” Chief Cameron said. “It took me a long time to clean” it off.

Looking at the forecast for Friday, Bellone said the colder temperatures could create conditions for black ice. He urged people to be “careful throughout [Thursday] and into tomorrow as well.”

Western LI will Get more Snow, East will Have Higher Winds

by Daniel Dunaief - December 16, 2020

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PJ-Village-Centerw — A look at Port Jefferson Harbor from the Village Center during Winter Storm Grayson as blizzard-force winds and more than a foot of snow pound the coast in January, 2018. File photo

As the nor’easter bears down on the mid-Atlantic states, the forecast for Long Island continues to include considerable snow, although the forecast varies by area.

The estimated snowfall ranges from 6 inches to 13 inches.

“We know the storm will be hitting us harder on the west end of Suffolk County, rather than the east end, where we’ll see lower amounts,” County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said during a weather update at the Commack Department of Public Works.

The storm will also hit harder in the north, rather than the south shore.

“This is going to be a heavy, wet snow, which is, of course, something that creates its own set of challenges,” Bellone said.

Bellone urged residents to return to their homes as early as possible tonight. The storm is expected to increase in intensity this evening through the overnight hours. During that time, snow could accumulate at the rate of one to two inches per hour.

“You should be off the roads by the latest, at 9 p.m. tonight.

While the east end will get lower snow totals, the area will have higher winds, with gusts of up to 57 miles per hour.

The county is opening its emergency operations center today and expects to have it open through tomorrow at 4 p.m..

The Department of Public Works has 200 vehicles ready, with about 19 tons of salt at their disposal to help clear the snow and ice from the roads.

Bellone urged residents to try to work from home on Thursday, if they can.

“Tomorrow is a day, if you can, to stay home,” Bellone urged.

Suffolk County Police Department Chief Stuart Cameron said this type of heavy snow can clog the chute of a snow blower.

“You should never, ever stick your hand” in the chute, Cameron cautioned, even if the device is turned off, because a blade can rotate and severely injure someone’s hand.

Cameron also advised against bringing a barbecue or generator inside the house because they release carbon monoxide, which can be dangerous to homeowners.

At this point, Bellone said there were no changes to the bus schedule. He urged residents to check for any modifications, particularly tomorrow after the snowstorm passes.

To report and receive status updates on an outage Text OUT to PSEGLI (773454) or to report an outage online visit www.psegliny.com

To register, have your account number available and text REG to PSEGLI (773454)

Downed wires should always be considered “live.” Do not approach or drive over a downed line and do not touch anything contacting the wire. To report a downed wire, call PSEG Long Island’s 24-hour Electric Service number: 1-800-490-0075

SCPD Urges Caution for Drivers, Shovelers Amid Coming Snow

by Daniel Dunaief - December 15, 2020

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Nov15-Snowstorm-2-111518_Kyle-Barr — A snowstorm that took place Nov. 15, 2018 blindsided drivers on their way from work. Suffolk workers are trying to avoid that same situation. File photo by Kyle Barr

With a snowstorm the Weather Channel has already named Gail bearing down on Long Island, packing 50 mph winds and predicted snowfalls of around a foot, Suffolk County officials urged residents to avoid the Wednesday evening and Thursday morning commutes, if possible.

Suffolk County Police Department Chief Stuart Cameron said people driving in the snow during either commute could create dangerous conditions.

“People haven’t driven in snow for some time,” Cameron said Tuesday at a press conference at the Department of Public Works Yard Salt Barn in Commack. “If you can work remotely tomorrow, I would advise that.”

Similarly, Chief Cameron said the Thursday morning commute could be “much more impacted” and suggested “if you can stay home, that would be great.”

Additionally, he said temperatures close to freezing might create the kind of conditions that favors heavy, wet snow.

“If you have health conditions, it might be wise to pay someone to clear your driveway,” Chief Cameron suggested.

County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said last year was a “light” year for snow, which means that the supply of salt for clearing snow-covered roadways is “plentiful right now.”

As of early on Tuesday, Bellone said the forecast called for snow to start around 2 p.m. and should worsen through the evening.

The combination of high winds, sleet and snow increases the possibility of power outages.

In a press release, PSEG indicated that the conditions could cause tree limbs to break and pull down wires.

PSEG is bringing in mutual aid crews to work with the company’s personnel on the island.

“Our workforce is performing system checks and logistics checks to ensure the availability of critical materials, fuel and other supplies,” John O’Connell, vice president of Transmission & Distribution at PSEG LI said in a statement.

During the storm, Long Island may create an enhancement to the outage communications process. With this enhancement, customers can contact the Call Center early in the storm to receive an “Assessing Conditions” message, rather than an estimated time of restoration.

This will give crews time to assess storm impact before setting power restoration expectations.

This procedural change comes after PSEG LI encountered numerous communication problems amid Tropical Storm Isaias earlier this year, during which customers couldn’t contact the utility and PSEG provided misleading estimated times to restore power.

PSEG said residents can report outages by texting OUT to PSEGLI. People can also report outages through the app, website at www.psegliny.com/outages or with their voice using Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant app on their smartphones.

Residents who would like to report an outage or downed wire can call the electric service number, at 800-490-0075.

Bellone said county officials would monitor the power restoration process.

“Through the emergency operation center, we will be working closely with PSEG, making sure they are doing everything they can to keep power on and to restore power if it does go out,” Bellone said.

The forecast conditions may mean that plowing could take longer, as drivers operate during white out conditions, Bellone said.

“It’s slow going in these kinds of conditions,” Bellone said.

Bellone said the crews are prepared and will work in overnight hours to make sure roadways are cleared.

Recognizing all the challenges 2020 has brought, Bellone said it is “not surprising as we get towards the end of this very strange year that we’ll have another first: our first pandemic snowstorm.”

That was the freezing week that was

by Daniel Dunaief - January 11, 2018

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In the dark of night, it silently slithered toward the back of the car, spray painting the windows with a sheen of opaque white.

It made its way around the car, finding the seam in the doors and filling it with surprisingly strong epoxy. It glided down to the ground and sucked some of the warm air out of the tires. The car was trapped on the driveway with no way to fight off this unwelcome intruder. If its alarm could have gone off, it would have warned us. But, no, that alarm only goes off early in the morning on the weekends, when someone opens the door with the key instead of deactivating the alarm system with a button, annoying the neighbors and embarrassing our kids and us in equal measure.

It slid under the hood. It paused over the heart of the machine, looking for places to extend its icy fingers into the exposed engine, snickering with delight at the opportunity to turn 3,000 pounds of metal into a frozen couch.

It reached into the battery and deactivated the power.

On my way to the car, it issued a warning, or was it a challenge, when it wrapped its icy fingers around my neck. I tried to ignore it and stick with my routine. When I turned the key, however, the car coughed weakly.

“Come on,” I pleaded, as the cold scraped its icicle hands against my exposed calf. I tried again. The third time was not the charm, either.

After getting a jump start, I decided to outsmart the wretched cold. I cleared space in the garage, hauling all the heavy items parked there into the basement. The garage door and the walls of the house would offer greater protection. No, I wasn’t giving the car a blanket and pillow and setting it up with reruns of “Knight Rider,” but I was protecting the family car.

The next day, I went through the basement into the garage, put the key in the ignition and beamed broadly as the internal combustion engine roared to life. Ha! I foiled the frigid air. I told the kids to climb in the car, which warmed up rapidly as a reward for keeping it in the garage, and drove triumphantly to school. The cold wouldn’t undermine my day, I thought, as I maneuvered through the responsibilities of the day.

When I returned home, I found that the cold had recruited my garage door to its unworthy cause. I didn’t look carefully enough when I had pulled away from the house. The garage door, fooled by a small piece of snow in the corner of the floor, thought it had hit something and reopened, where it stayed all day.

I pulled the car in, closed the garage and waited for the door to close. When the metal door reached the ground, it reopened. I played a short game with the door, pushing the button just after it started to open again so that the cold air had only a small opening.

“I win,” I announced as I entered the warm house.

When I turned on the water in my bathroom the next morning, I realized I had lost. The combination of the cold from the open garage from the day before and the small crack at the bottom of the door was enough to enable the cold to lay its frozen hands on my pipes.

Several hours later, the plumber, who was busier than a foraging ant during a Fourth of July picnic, shivered in the garage and proclaimed the small opening under the door as the culprit.

This cold snap, which finally left the area earlier this week, won this battle.

North Shore digs out after massive blizzard

by Alex Petroski - January 9, 2018

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Winter Storm Grayson arrived early Jan. 4 and pounded Port Jefferson, and the surrounding areas to the tune of more than 16 inches of snow.

The storm was officially categorized as a blizzard by the New York office of the National Weather Service, with sustained winds or frequent gusts greater than 35 mph, “considerable” falling and blowing snow, visibility of less than a quarter of a mile and more than three hours of duration. Port Jefferson Village Mayor Margot Garant, Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine (R), Town of Huntington Supervisor Chad Luppinacci (R), Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) declared states of emergency for each of their respective jurisdictions.

“This storm was actually worse than predicted for us,” Bellone said during a briefing Jan. 5. “We saw up to 16 inches of snow in certain parts of the county. This was, as we discussed, a very difficult and challenging storm because of all the conditions — high rate of snowfall, very rapid rate and high winds. It made it very difficult. I want to thank all of those who heeded our calls to stay off the roads yesterday. There were far too many people on the roads. The result was hundreds of motorists ended up stranded.”

Based on unofficial observations taken Jan. 4 and 5, the highest snowfall total reported by the New York NWS office was in Terryville, where 16.4 inches of snow fell during the storm. Suffolk County appeared to take the brunt of Grayson’s wrath according to the NWS data, not only in actual snowfall, but also as the home to the highest wind gusts in the state during the storm, with gusts exceeding 60 mph.

Despite the substantial snowfall totals, Main Street in Port Jeff Village was up and running and open for business Friday morning, according to Garant, who said the village’s Department of Public Works did an “A++” job in an email.

“We have a good system and a great team in place,” she said, adding she was thrilled with how quickly village streets were passable. “The community really makes this possible for us by staying home and avoiding parking on the snow emergency streets.”

Steve Gallagher, the village’s DPW superintendent, said 22 village DPW employees worked using nine trucks equipped with plows and nine trucks with both plows and sanders to clear the streets. He estimated the village used between 150 and 200 tons of salt and sand mix to mitigate the impact of road and sidewalk icing. He reiterated Garant’s point that cooperation from the public is critical in returning the village back to business as usual following a storm.

“Village roads were passable at all times thanks to the dedication and commitment of the men in the DPW,” he said. “People staying off the roads and not parking in the streets would help expedite the clearing of the roads and allow a better job.”

PSEG Long Island reported 97 percent of the 21,700 of its customers who lost power as a result of the storm had their service restored by 9 p.m. Jan. 5.

“Our goal, always, is to restore power as quickly and safely as possible,” a spokesperson for the utility said in a press release. “We ask our customers for a fair amount of patience and to know we will be there just as soon as it is safe.”

The storm came in the midst of a record-setting stretch of below freezing temperatures, according to the NWS. A streak of 13 straight days with a maximum temperature below 32 degrees Fahrenheit measured at Long Island McArthur Airport in Islip was snapped Jan. 9. The 13-day duration was the second longest period of below freezing temperatures reported at the airport since 1963.

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