If It Were Snow...Massapequa Would Be Under Nearly a Foot by Now

Turns out the weather outside could have been way more frightful if the temperature dropped.

Depending on the temperatures, the amount of rainfall that has already battered Long Island Tuesday could have translated into nearly a foot of snow.

Most of Nassau County and parts of western Suffolk already accumulated between a half-inch and three-quarters of an inch of rainfall by 11 a.m., according to the National Weather Service. Most of Suffolk County calculated more than a quarter-inch of rain.

If Tuesday’s temperatures dropped to 30 degrees, one inch of rain would have become 10 inches of snow, according to meteorologist Glenn Schwartz.

“When the temperature is around 30 degrees, one inch of liquid precipitation would fall as 10 inches of snow -- assuming the storm is all snow,” Schwartz said. “But, the amount of moisture in each snowflake differs depending on the temperature changing the snow to rain ratio.”

The colder the temperatures, the more snow is squeezed out of every inch of moisture, said Schwartz.

Last week, when temperatures dipped to the low 30s, today’s rainfall so far would have dumped around five inches of snow on Long Island. If temperatures reached the bitter lows of the Polar Vortex, the island would have seen upwards of 20 inches of snow.

So when you’re cursing the puddles on your way home from work, just think of the snow you didn’t have to scrape off of your windshield.

Photo via Flickr/Creative Commons/danbruell

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