Storm's punch eases as snowfall slows

While snowfall rates were slowing as of around 5 a.m. Saturday, precipitation was forecast to linger until  between 8 and 11 a.m.

The post-Christmas storm, which initially threatened to drop as much as 10 inches of snow on parts of Long Island, moved quicker than expected and was partially thwarted by a warm section of air that kept the system from delivering a harder punch, according to the National Weather Service..

"Because of that what happened was instead of getting snow, we got sleet," NWS meteorologist Brian Ciemnecki said. "Forecasting that warmer nose of air was always a factor in the system. A lot of the guidance we were looking it, we really thought it was going to stay kind of just outside of our area."

Early snowfall reports received by the National Weather Service showed Suffolk County totals as high as 6.8 inches as of around 1 a.m. Saturday. Nassau County's highest total was recorded at around 10 p.m. in Oceanside with a reading of 4 inches, according to the agency's 1:41 a.m. snowfall report. Official totals are expected to climb slightly early Saturday, Ciemnecki said.

The Long Island Railroad was not reporting any weather-related delays Saturday morning, according to the MTA website, and PSEG was not reporting any outages as of 5:40 a.m.

Temperatures aren't expected to rise past the mid-30s on Saturday, raising the potential for icy conditions develop. Overnight, temperatures are forecast to drop into the 20s.

That means the earliest chance for widespread melting won't happen until Sunday, according to Ciemnecki, when temperatures will sneak into the 40s. Still, wind chill values on Sunday are expected to make it feel between 15 and 25 degrees throughout the day, the NWS forecast.

Rain is likely to move through the area Sunday night, when temperatures rise again to the low 40s.

By Joseph Ostapiuk

joseph.ostapiuk@newsday.com@OstapiukJ