Snow Brings Flooding to New Suffolk; Supervisor Says Thoughts of Easy Winter 'Premature'

Monday’s snowfall brought some flooding to parts of Southold and kept highway crews out all day, tackling the “slow and steady” accumulation, officials said.

Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell said some parts of New Suffolk saw flooding. “The highway department was on top of it and has been digging the town from the early morning — and still is,” he said Monday afternoon. “Another event, another closing of Town Hall and schools. With more snow on the way, perhaps our thoughts of getting off easy this winter were premature.”

Southold Town Highway Superintendent Vincent Orlando said Monday felt almost like the film “Groundhog Day,” with conditions similar to Friday’s snowfall, also beginning around 5:30 a.m. Highway crews began sanding at 5 a.m., finishing up with a sand/salt mixture on the entire town by 9:30 a.m.

After that, crews spent the day plowing, in an effort to keep up with the “snow and steady” snowfall, Orlando said.

Crews will take a quick dinner break from 5 p.m. to 6 pm. and then head right back out, to scrape up the roads and recoat the entire town with salt and sand.

Flooding took place Monday morning in New Suffolk, breaching the road at Grathwohl and New Suffolk, he said, but as the tide subsided, the flooding dissipated, Orlando said.

With winds dying down, Orlando was hopeful that the high tide at midnight would not spark as much flooding.

When all was said and done, although the snow was still falling lightly Monday afternoon, John Murray, meteorologist with the National Weather Service office at Upton, said Mattituck saw a total of approximately 5.8 inches as of 3:45 p.m., with Orient Point seeing upwards of 5.5 inches and Jamesport totaling 5.8 inches as of noon. Flanders had an accumulation of 6 inches, as did Southampton Town, Murray said.

A winter storm warning was still in effect for the East End until 6 p.m., Murray said.

Looking ahead, Murray said snow remains in the forecast for the coming days, with a chance of snow Monday night, Tuesday, Tuesday night, and continuing through Wednesday, as the area remains behind “powerful low pressure” in southeastern Novia Scotia, as well as another series of lows that are expected to follow a track similar to Monday’s snowfall.

A 60 percent chance of snow remains in the forecast for Tuesday night, he said.

Temperatures are expected to remain cold, with highs in the mid 30s forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday and lows in the lower 20s Monday night, and upper teens and lower 20s for Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

The weekend will be frosty, Murray said, with highs in the upper 20s on Saturday and only in the upper teens for Valentine’s Day on Sunday.