Snow from nor'easter winding down on Long Island with strong winds expected overnight

Heavy bands of snow dusted lawns all over Long Island Tuesday but the two-day nor’easter that brought the precipitation, first rain, then snow, was due to move out overnight with strong winds in its wake and possibly tricky driving conditions for Wednesday morning, forecasters said. 

"An intense Nor'easter off the New England coast will slowly move out to sea tonight into Wednesday morning. Lingering bands of light to moderate snow will continue through the evening commute, and then slowly taper off from west to east late this evening through around midnight," the National Weather Service said in its Tuesday evening advisory.

"An additional 1 to 4 [inches] of snow is likely across the higher elevations N&W of NYC through early this evening, with a coating to a couple of inches of snow for LI and CT through midnight," the advisory said.

"Expect the potential for slushy to snow covered untreated roads all the way to the coast this evening (particularly LI and S CT), making for hazardous road conditions," the advisory said.

National Weather Service meteorologist James Tomasini said bands of snow created difficult driving conditions on parts of Long Island Tuesday afternoon, but he didn’t think the snow would stick around. 

“Because of how warm the surface temperatures are, there won’t be much accumulation,” Tomasini said. Wednesday is expected to be partially sunny, with leftover strong winds and a high in the low 40s. 

The New York metropolitan region largely escaped the brutal snowstorm that walloped much of New England, bringing more than a foot to upstate counties and prompting Gov. Kathy Hochul to declare a state of emergency for those areas.

A wind advisory was issued for Suffolk from 8 p.m. Tuesday to 11 a.m. on Wednesday. Northwest winds of 20 mph to 30 mph with gusts of 55 mph are predicted, the weather service said.

Local police were not reporting an above-average number of accidents on the roads Tuesday afternoon but there were concerns about freezing temperatures Tuesday night.

Huntington Highway Superintendent Andrew Sorrentino said crews have already pretreated the roads with salt and will continue inspecting and treating as needed.

Sorrentino said there’s a light coating of snow on some grassy areas and side streets and he is starting to get weather-related accident calls from local police saying “people are sliding.”

“We put the salt down before it freezes so hopefully we beat it to the punchline," he said.

Besides the strong winds, Tuesday night will feature cold temperatures with a low around freezing and wind chills of 20 to 25.

The Nassau Inter-County Express (NICE) bus service advised Tuesday that delays, detours or route cancellations caused by nor'easter conditions were possible. Riders were advised to check the NICE Bus Service Alert webpage or the NICE Go Mobile app for updates. Riders can also check the 'Where’s My Bus’ feature on the main NICE Bus page.

By daybreak Wednesday, skies should be clearing and the day is expected to be at least partly sunny. “However, it will feel a good 15 degrees colder when factoring in the wind with most wind chills getting into the middle teens to around 20 during the predawn hours,” the weather service said.

High pressure over the Carolinas will keeps the clouds away Thursday, with highs in the low 50s expected. More low-pressure systems give Friday a 50% chance of rain, with the odds for Saturday put at 40%. Daytime highs both days will hit the 50s, and temperatures will slide to around freezing at night.

Sunday and Monday, however, should be bright and clear, with highs in the 40s.

With Joan Gralla, Michael O'Keeffe and Lorena Mongelli