Feb 4, 2009 7:36 am US/Eastern
'CAUTION' Is The Watchword For Wednesday's Commute
4 Inches Of Accumulation Measured In NYC; Long Island Gets Brunt Of Storm
Temps In Low Teens With Wind Chill For Most Of The Morning
CBS 2's Jay Dow Reports Of 22 Car Pileup In Newark
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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A driver in Suffolk County, Long Island lost control of the wheel, most likely due to the dangerously icy roads. CBS 2's Magee Hickey was live from Syosset Wednesday, where there were many reports of accidents and pileups.
CBS
The significant snowfall that blanketed much of the CBS 2 viewing area on Tuesday night is causing deceptively dangerous conditions on the roadways across the region Wednesday morning.
Along with the intensifying snowfall throughout the day yesterday, temperatures also plummeted. During the overnight hours temps were in the single digits with the wind chill, turning any left over precipitation into ice.
"It's the arctic air mass that's sticking around," said CBS 2 HD Meteorologist John Elliot.
As of 6 a.m. on Wednesday, temperatures were well below freezing.
"It's 19 degrees outside right now," said Elliot. "But with the bitter winds, it feels more like 10."
"The skies will be clearer on Wednesday, but the temperatures will continue to drop into Thursday morning," said Elliot. "Wednesday's low is 19, which we reach early in the morning, but expect it to be even colder tomorrow morning, with a low of 12."
CBS 2 HD News Wednesday morning had live coverage throughout the area. Jay Dow was stationed in New Jersey, where reports of car pileups were rampant. Magee Hickey, reporting from Syosset, where the storm had the heaviest snowfall, was also dealing with the icy conditions.
"With temps this low, we've seen a lot of accidents Wednesday morning," said Dow. "There are roads that have spots that are incredibly icy. But they're hard to see sow drivers are just flying by."
Meanwhile, from Nassau County, Magee Hickey saw some of the same.
"Crews have been working round the clock for most of Long Island. Morning commuters are being especially cautious," said Hickey.
Salt trucks and plows were out and about trying to maintain the roads after the storm. Still, some drivers, like Khayri Rasheed, said they were still a mess.
"[They're] horrible, slippery, scary. I have a truck so it's not so bad for me, but I feel sorry for people with cars," he said.
What started out as a light, intermittent snowfall in the morning hours picked up in intensity by the late afternoon yesterday. Officially, 4.3 inches of snow was measured in Central Park, with higher totals on Long Island and parts east, where the storm packed the hardest punch.
This winter has already been more active than all of last season. 19.3 inches of snow has been measured in Central Park, while last year at this time only 2.9 inches had fallen.
"What has made this winter even more compelling is the consistently cold conditions," said Elliot. "Don't expect it to change any time soon."
Northern communities from Sullivan, Ulster, and Dutchess counties down to Orange and Passaic caught the softer side of the storm, according to CBS 2's Lonnie Quinn.
"We had wet surfaces out there because the snow wasn't sticking, so what does it do? It sort of melts, that's where you get the slush out there," said Quinn.
But on Long Island, where the snowfall was heavier, the conditions on the roads are more dangerous still.
To make matters worse, strong winds will accompany the cold temperatures, making it feel much colder.
"What could be troubling on Wednesday morning and all throughout the day will be the gusts of winds," says Elliot. "North winds could be around 15 mph with gusts up to 25 mph."
Elliot is calling for highs in the city to reach just 29 on Wednesday and only 27 on Thursday.
Things will turn around on Friday when the mercury rises to a high of 40, and by Sunday temperatures will reach the 50s for a much welcome return to milder air.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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