Snowstorm closes many LI schools, snarls traffic

The overnight storm that originally was supposed to center over New York City also stretched its shadow over Long Island Friday morning.

Commuters woke up to treacherous road conditions, with several inches of snow on the ground and more falling.

Main roadways and side streets were covered with wet, sticky snow as some parts of Nassau County braced for more than 10 inches of morning snow, according to the National Weather Service in Upton, which issued a winter storm warning until Saturday at 6 a.m.

Service is restored on the LIRR's Oyster Bay branch with residual delays up to 30 minutes. Earlier, service was suspended in both directions due to a disabled tractor trailer at the Glen Head Road crossing, according to the MTA's Web site.

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Snow and more snow is in the forecast, with most of Long Island expected to get between 3 and 7 inches of daytime snow, with another 3 to 5 predicted to fall this evening.

For most of Long Island, the chance of precipitation is between 80 percent and 90 percent through tonight, the service said. There is snow in the forecast until Saturday, with the chance of precipitation for Sunday at 30 percent and Sunday night at 40 percent.

Strong winds were gusting across Long Island, with measurements as high as 60 mph in East Atlantic Beach, according to the National Weather Service. Gusts also measured 51 mph on Fire Island and 45 mph in Long Beach.

In New York City, the prediction is for a total snowfall of between 12 and 14 inches.

On major roadways -- the Long Island Expressway, the Northern and Southern state parkways and Sunrise Highway, for example -- morning traffic was reduced to speeds of less than 40 mph. And still drivers had difficult times making a go of it.

Between Exits 50 and 51 on the LIE, four cars were stalled -- including one in the middle of the expressway -- at about 5:20 p.m. The Department of Transportation's traffic alert Website listed a multiple-vehicle accident on the eastbound Northern State between Exits 35 and 36 at 6:25 a.m., and another two-vehicle crash on the eastbound LIE at Exit 36 6:07 a.m. It was not certain whether the accidents caused any injuries.

Nassau County police began reporting road closures as early as 11:30 p.m. Thursday night, with conditions in Roslyn, especially icy.

The winter weather also was causing some problems for airports.

At JFK and LaGuardia airports, snow and ice were delaying departures to Philadelphia for more than three hours, and general departures and arrivals were averaging delays of 15 minutes or less, according to the FAA's Web site.

Flights at Long Island MacArthur Airport were, for the most part, on time, said spokeswoman Catherine Green.

"There are scattered delays and cancellations," Green said. She advised all travelers to check with their airlines before heading off to the airport. "Our runways are clear and the airport is open," Green said early Friday morning.

The LIRR reported only minor delays early Friday morning because of weather conditions, said spokeswoman Susan McGowan. "Right now, we're seeing 10- to 15-minute delays system wide, but we are operating a normal weekday schedule," she said. Customer traffic, she said, was down about 25 percent.

The storm brought heavy rain to most of Long Island Thursday. As of 7 p.m., nearly 2 inches of rain had fallen in Upton.

By around 8:30 p.m., snow had begun falling in parts of western Suffolk and it's expected for most of the Island Friday and Saturday.

The National Weather Service said a potent area of low pressure was expected to linger off Long Island on Friday before drifting slowly north toward southern New England and weakening on Saturday.

The slow-moving storm by Friday morning had dumped about 10 inches of snow in New York City, where a man was killed by a falling snow-laden tree branch in Central Park — one of at least three deaths being blamed on the storm.

The New York City public schools announced they are closed because of the weather, after initially hoping that the snowfall would be manageable enough to keep them open.

In New Jersey, the snow totals ranged from about 3 inches in Atlantic City to 18 inches in Passaic and Sussex counties in northern New Jersey, which could get up to 2 feet of snow before the sky clears on Saturday.

A day after airlines canceled hundreds of flights across the Northeast, the real threat was expected to be the strong wind that could create blizzard conditions.

The National Weather Service put much of the East Coast under wind advisories and warnings into Friday. The agency warned that winds could blow steadily between 20 and 30 mph in some areas, with gusts of 55 mph or higher in coastal and mountainous areas.