Community Corner
Active Winter Season Yields More Snow
Lighter snowfall, however, doesn't mean the roadways aren't dangerous.
Mother Nature is forcing us Three Village residents to dig out from yet another snowfall Friday in what’s been an extremely active start to this winter season. The several inches of snow we had overnight seem like nothing compared to the two hefty one- to one-and-a-half foot snowstorms we’ve been hammered with earlier this winter.
Even though today’s snowfall was lighter than others this winter, roads will still be dangerous in spots throughout this weekend. “Residents should always be extra careful, and provide themselves with extra time to get where they need to go, whenever potential hazards exist,” said Jim LaCarrubba, deputy superintendent of the Brookhaven Highway Department.
Earlier this week, on Tuesday, we were hit with our first winter storm that did not just fall in the form of snow. Sleet, ice, freezing rain and simply a cold plain rain were added to the equation for the first time this winter. Typically, these types of winter storms have the potential to create the most damage. Snow is usually wetter and heavier with temperatures hovering right at the freezing mark – combine that with ice and freezing rain and those tree limbs and power lines start to get weighed down considerably quicker than they would with your average winter snowstorm.
For those of you who may not know, here is a quick reference guide as to what each of the above-mentioned precipitation types means:
Sticks and starts to accumulate instantly on road surfaces 32 degrees or colder. Sleet A combination of snow and rain. Snow melts as it falls through the
atmosphere. Some flakes make it to the surface, others don’t and turn into
liquid droplets. Ice Small balls of ice, often referred to as pellets. They bounce on contact with
the Earth’s surface and begin to accumulate. I would refer to this as one of the most dangerous forms of precipitation. Freezing Rain Precipitation that falls as water droplets and looks like rain, but instantly
freezes and turns into ice when it hits the surface. This would be the most
dangerous form of precipitation in my opinion. Rain Water droplets that fall as and hit the surface in the liquid form.
Some of the leftover snow pack from last week’s major snow storm continued to melt while it rained Tuesday, leaving considerable areas of standing water on some of our area roadways.
If temperatures dropped to below the freezing mark Tuesday night, we would have been dealing with severe icing concerns as all of this water would have turned to Three Village streets into ice rinks, leaving us skating around town instead of driving.
Luckily, overnight lows Tuesday stayed right above the freezing mark, so icing was not a problem for Tuesday. Wednesday, with highs in the 40s, more snow melted and a bit more rain fell, creating additional puddles in Three Village. It’s a good thing some Wednesday afternoon sunshine led to the evaporation of some of that standing water, because temperatures tumbled to the 20s Wednesday night, instantly freezing any leftover standing water. Icing remained a concern last night and will be right on through this weekend.
As some of you know, the worst spots for icing in Three Village are in the hilly locations. Especially as you get right up along that north shore of the island, the terrain around here becomes very steep in spots. Watch out when driving in these areas. The bottom of these hills will most likely have the most standing water from runoff and thus turn to ice with temperatures as low as they’ll be tonight and this
weekend.
We won’t get out of the low 20s this weekend with lows in the single digits to low teens overnight. And just as we finish shoveling this snowfall, another is potentially waiting on the horizon for next Tuesday into Wednesday.
This pattern looks to remain active for the time being, so be safe on the roads with the ice around and for those of you hating this winter weather, just keep dreaming of spring – it will be here before you know it.
Editor's Note: Matt Hammer is a Three Village resident and freelance weather journalist who has appeared locally on television. He writes the daily blog Hammer Out the Weather.
