Riverhead schools to operate on two-hour delay Monday

Updated Sunday, 6 p.m.

The Riverhead Central School District will operate on a two-hour delay Monday following Sunday’s snowstorm, the district announced.

The district was closed last Monday and Tuesday following a nor’easter.

Updated Sunday, Noon

Riverhead Town issued a “declaration of winter storm event” beginning at noon, meaning on-street parking is prohibited to allow plows to operate.

A notice from the town says “the accumulation of snow, freezing rain, sleet, or ice on any roadway will render vehicle travel potentially hazardous and necessitate snow removal operation or such other remediation efforts to address a winter storm.”

Updated Sunday, 9 a.m.

A winter storm warning is in effect until 9 p.m. for Suffolk County with up to eight inches of fresh snow expected to blanket the region this Super Bowl Sunday.

The National Weather Service said the storm will drop between five to eight inches of snow, with the East End expected to see more snow than other areas.

“Snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour are expected for a period during the late morning and early afternoon,” the agency wrote in its warning.

The snow is expected to pick up after 10 a.m. and continue until about 5 p.m., leaving about a 90-minute window to shovel before kickoff of the big game. Winds will be about 16 miles per hour.

“It is Super Bowl Sunday and while it is sunny for the big game in Tampa, Mother Nature has different plans for us,” said Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone.

The county executive urged people to stay home during the storm and Super Bowl, saying that added with the pandemic this should be enough to keep people from going out.

The high temperature today will be about 34 degrees, with the wind making it feel closer to the low-to-mid-20s, the NWS said.

“While we are not expecting to see those big winds from the last storm … we are expecting some gusts of up to 25 miles per hour,” Mr. Bellone said.

Southold Town announced it has closed its waste transfer station Sunday. Both local towns encouraged residents to keep cars off the roadways to clear space for plowing.

This is the second winter weather event of the week after about a half of foot or more fell on Monday. Snow is also in the forecast for this Tuesday and Thursday.

Saturday

Don’t put those shovels away just yet.

One week after a nor’easter dropped about a foot of snow across much of the county, another storm is expected to deliver as much as nine inches of snow on Super Bowl Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.

A winter storm warning was issued early Saturday and goes into effect at 6 a.m. Sunday and is expected to last through 9 p.m.

The NWS says heavy snow is expected and total snow accumulations are predicted to be between five and nine inches, a slightly higher total than was originally predicted on Friday afternoon. While the East End was spared the heaviest snow totals in the most recent storm, current predictions show the most snow falling on the eastern end where the range falls toward the nine inches.

The NWS warns that travel could be very difficult. Super Bowl Sunday is typically one of the biggest days of the year for people to get together, but officials have cautioned people to avoid large gatherings due to the ongoing threat of COVID-19. The snow may take care of that on its own.

The heaviest snow could be during the late morning and early afternoon with snowfall rates of 2+ inches or more. Snow will begin around sunrise Sunday.

It’s expected to be a quick moving storm compared to the nor’easter that lingered from late Sunday into early Tuesday.