Winter Storm — Northwest Suffolk, New York

2016-01-23 to 2016-01-24 · Northwest Suffolk, New York

Event narrative

The public, trained spotters, and NWS cooperative weather observers reported snowfall ranging from 15 to 27 inches. At Eaton's Neck, northeast winds were sustained at 49 mph at noon on Saturday the 23rd, and gusted to 59 mph at 9:55 AM on Saturday the 23rd. At Mount Sinai Harbor, north winds gusted to 42 mph at 7:46 PM on Saturday the 23rd.

Wider weather episode

Low pressure moving across the deep South on Thursday January 21st and Friday January 22nd intensifed and moved off the Mid Atlantic coast on Saturday January 23rd, bringing heavy snow and strong winds to southeast New York, and blizzard conditions to Long Island, New York City, and nearby southern Westchester County.

NY Gov. Cuomo declared a state of emergency early Saturday January 23rd. Metro North and Long Island Railroad service halted at 4 PM Saturday.

In New York City, the blizzard contributed to more than 400 car crashes, and streets were closed to all but emergency vehicles from mid-afternoon Saturday January 23nd until 7 AM Sunday January 24th. Much of the city's mass transit was shut down, along with bridges and tunnels across the city and to/from New Jersey. The Port Authority Bus Terminal, the busy Midtown NYC transportation hub, closed its doors at 4 PM Saturday. Broadway shows announced all Saturday performances were canceled.

Travel in and out of New York City airports lagged through Monday January 25th as airlines pre-emptively cut hundreds of flights. All arrivals and departures were eventually canceled due to severe winter weather conditions at LaGuardia airport, with Kennedy at a virtual standstill as well. More than 1,000 flights out of New York City-area airports were cancelled, including 90% of flights from LaGuardia.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 621171. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.