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Long Island Winter Storm Forecast to Make Icy Roads

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A wintry mix falling on Long Island is forecast to melt snow from last week’s blizzard, flood local roadways and then freeze, causing “treacherous” driving conditions during the Monday evening rush hour, forecasters said.

The National Weather Service issued a flood advisory through 1 p.m. Monday and a flash freeze forecast through the evening before a winter weather advisory expires at 6 p.m. As of Monday morning, as much as four inches of snow fell in Bayville and Shoreham and as little as two inches was recorded in Merrick and Centereach. Temperatures are expected to drop into the 20s before sundown with wind chills as low as 5 degrees, causing all the precipitation to freeze over just in time for the commute.

“A combination of rain and snow-melt has caused minor urban and poor drainage flooding across portions of Long Island,” meteorologists in the agency’s Upton office said in a statement. “All roads that have standing water or slush will quickly become icy…making travel treacherous.”

The same storm, which is expected to hit New England even harder after blanketing parts of the Mid-West in 20 inches of snow, has also delayed many flights at New York metro area airports and grounded those out of Long Island MacArthur Airport. The Long Island Rail Road also reported widespread weather-related delays, some more than a half hour. Fire Island Ferries suspended service until a later date as well due to icy conditions on the Great South Bay.

The storm is forecast to change from a wintry mix back into snow before tapering off Monday evening. Once the storm passes, Tuesday is forecast to be mostly sunny in the 20s before a slight chance of snow showers returns Wednesday into Thursday. The weekend forecast is cloudy with a high of 33 on Saturday and lows staying in the 20s at night.