The second half of the nasty nor’easter fizzled overnight and didn’t produce significant snowfall on Long Island, but Friday morning’s commute still brought plenty of headaches, especially for riders on the Long Island Rail Road, which cancelled 14 morning trains.
The heavy snow that blanketed LI for most of the day Thursday forced railroad officials to implement a modified weekday schedule Friday morning, which led to cancellations on nearly all of the LIRR’s branches.
Six of the 14 cancelled trains were on the Babylon branch, with the rest of the cancelled trains scattered throughout the LIRR system.
Commuters traveling by car perhaps fared a little better, but many roads across Long Island were still wet and slushy from Thursday’s prolonged storm.
The nor’easter hovered over LI for most of the day. It began by dumping a foot of snow across the region before it converted to an annoying wintry mix of rain and sleet. The storm took a break before a second round of wintry weather arrived overnight, but snowfall was mostly around one inch.
“Not significant,” was how Tim Morrin, a National Weather Service meteorologist, put it.
Still, the agency released a statement Friday morning warning residents that road conditions remained treacherous, but that was mostly meant for people heading north and west of New York City.
More than 400 PSEG Long Island customers woke up to homes in the dark, the utility reported on its website. PSEG LI said crews will continue to work throughout the day to restore “customers safely, efficiently and as soon as possible.”
A winter storm warning was cancelled at 6 a.m.
The good news was that residents walked out of their homes and were met by a gentile sunny sky, which is expected to help melt the piles of snow that have built up over the course of several storms. Temperatures could hit a high near 41 Friday, forecasters said.
But, this is the winter of 2014, so we shouldn’t expect back-to-back days of decent weather.
The weather service said snow is likely after 10 a.m. Saturday. Forecasters project snowfall amounts between 1 to 3 inches.
There is also a slight chance of snow on Sunday.
