Hefty snow totals bury South Shore

“I want to thank town employees who spent countless hours snowplowing for the town. This was one of the most significant storms we had in the last couple of years,” said Brookhaven Town councilman Neil Foley (R-District 5)

Suffolk County’s most significant snowstorm in four years, the snow totals averaged around a foot on Jan. 25. The arctic temperatures also brought in a period of sleet.

According to the National Weather Service, MacArthur Airport reported roughly 13 inches of snow accumulation, with 10 inches reported in Patchogue, 7 inches in Bellport, and 12 to 16 inches in the Mastic-Shirley area.

The storm brought the heaviest snowfall since late January 2022, when MacArthur Airport set a single-day snowfall record of 23.5 inches.

While Long Island saw around a foot of snow during this Sunday’s storm, parts of Upstate New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts saw snow totals closer to two feet.

The storm stretched across the country, with over 200 million people across 25 states under some form of winter or ice storm warning, from southern Texas to northern Maine.

Public officials across these states, including Gov. Kathy Hochul and Suffolk County executive Ed Romaine, declared states of emergency ahead of the storm.

Romaine urged Long Islanders to stay home and refrain from driving on Sunday as the storm brought up to 2 to 3 inches of snow accumulation per hour. Romaine also advised any homeless individuals to contact emergency services for support as temperatures continue to linger in the teens and twenties.

Those in need of housing support during the cold weather can contact the Suffolk County Department of Social Services at 631-854-9930 or 631-854-9100 for emergencies and after hours.

There are also dozens of warming centers open across the county amid the frigid weather, including public libraries and town senior centers. Locations, hours, and phone numbers for warming centers can be found on the Suffolk County government website or at the shortened link tinyurl.com/SuffolkWarmingCenters.