LI crews prepare for big snowstorm tonight

Here we go again.

Another snowstorm expected to hit the region Tuesday night and last through Wednesday could dump more than a foot of snow on parts of Long Island and make for another dreadful morning commute.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for Long Island - with accumulations of 10 to 15 inches of snow and wind gusts of up to 35 mph. The warning is in effect from 7 p.m. Tuesday to 6 p.m. Wednesday. The heaviest snow is expected to arrive after midnight, and could last through Wednesday morning.

Agencies across the Island, including the Long Island Rail Road and the Long Island Power Authority Monday began readying for the storm.

On the East End, where beaches are still reeling from the eroding effects of last month's blizzard, municipalities prepared crews and equipment for another round with Mother Nature.

"We're just cleaning out the intersections," Riverhead Highway Superintendent George Woodson said. "We have trucks all over town."

Here is a look at how the storm could affect travel plans:

LIRR

With the LIRR a year ago adopting a policy to suspend service when more than 10 to 13 inches of snow accumulates on the tracks, there is a possibility that the expected storm could create significant problems on the rails.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials said they expected Tuesday's morning and evening commutes to be largely unaffected, and were focused instead on the snow's impact on the Wednesday morning rush.

And because the worst of the storm is expected to happen overnight, most commuters may be sound asleep when the LIRR announces service disruptions and schedule changes.

The LIRR already began positioning snow removal equipment throughout the system Monday, and expected to have de-icing trains and trains fitted with ice-scraping shoes traveling through the system Tuesday.

"We are readying the materials and equipment that will need to be deployed when the storm advances, and are prepared to deploy the necessary personnel to operate our services during the storm," an MTA spokesman said.

Roads

The state DOT's preparations for the predicted snowfall were manifest Monday at its Melville maintenance yard, where workers stocked massive Mack trucks with salt and brine mix, and checked on the fittings on the 13-foot-wide plows attached to each truck.

A tanker truck carrying 4,000 gallons of brine mix will hit the Long Island Expressway and other major state arteries on Monday night, pre-treating the roads with brine mix to help the first layers of snow melt, he said.

"This way, when the storm does come, we're better prepared," he said.

Anticipating the worst, all 350 of the DOT Long Island workers and 195 pieces of equipment will be on call until the storm passes and the roads are cleared, said spokeswoman Eileen Peters.

Airports

Because of the severe weather in the Northeast, some major airlines, including JetBlue and American Airlines, have waived penalties for travelers who change their plans.

At Long Island MacArthur Airport, crews consolidated snow piles left over from last month's storm to make room for the new snow piles that would be made from the cleared runways.

With Mitchell Freedman, Sophia Chang and Mark Harrington