The South Fork was spared the heaviest snowfall in a blizzard that pummeled the Northeast last weekend, bringing hurricane-force winds and leaving motorists stranded across Long Island.
The National Weather Service recorded 19.4 inches of snow in Riverhead, 12.5 in Southampton, and 12 in Bridgehampton, meteorologist Lauren Nash said on Monday. Accumulations reached about 18 inches farther east in northern parts of East Hampton Town.
Areas on the north shore and North Fork of the island were hit the hardest, with well over 2 feet in spots. Official National Weather Service records taken in Islip showed the highest amount of snowfall in a two-day period—27.8 inches total—since 1984.
The highest wind gust in the state was recorded at Plum Island in Gardiners Bay at 75 mph on Friday night; a weather station in Montauk recorded a gust of 57 mph, and Westhampton Beach saw a 47-mph gust.
Perhaps more startling than the high winds and rapid snowfall, however, were the flashes of lightning and rumbling thunder that followed, a phenomenon dubbed “thunder snow” by East End residents. Ms. Nash explained that thunder and lightning during snowstorms occurs just as it would during the summer months, though it can actually signal heavier snowfall, as it did over the weekend.
“That was crazy,” Flanders resident Meigan Rocco said Monday, recalling the flashes that lit up her house. “I thought it was something exploding somewhere.”
East Hampton Town Supervisor Bill Wilkinson declared a state of emergency for the town at noon on Friday, which remained in effect through Tuesday morning and will be lifted only when cleanup is complete. The order prohibits residents from parking on town roads.
Stephen Lynch, East Hampton Town highway superintendent, said his workers had two payloaders deployed to help with snow removal. They were also useful in pushing town plowers out of snow banks as they got stuck, he said. One employee, he added, used a payloader around the clock to remove the nearly 100 downed trees in the town.
East Hampton Town experienced the most power outages in the region, peaking at 1,483 as of 7 a.m. on Saturday. The Long Island Power Authority reported that only a handful of homes remained without power on Tuesday.
“We had a very good combined effort,” Mr. Lynch said Tuesday morning, nearing the end of the cleanup. “Everybody did an outstanding job with all the hours that were put in.”
The storm left plenty to clean up in East Hampton Village, from mounds of snow down the center of Main Street to a ruptured water pipe on Railroad Avenue to a downed tree on Accabonac Road and Collins Avenue. Suffolk County Water Authority employees worked in rain and mud on Monday to repair the water leak, while East Hampton Village Public Works Department and utility workers were still tackling the downed tree on Tuesday, as it was entangled with lines, including one that connects to 911 dispatch.
Village Administrator Larry Cantwell said untangling the mess was a delicate process. “It was tangled in electric lines and, more critically, tangled in the Verizon and cable lines,” he said. “We have 911 service, and have throughout this, but if someone makes a mistake when they’re cutting that tree apart, the line is in a precarious position.”
The village opened an emergency operations center in a joint effort with the town, where representatives of the police, fire, ambulance and highway crews were on hand in one room.
East Hampton Village Hall was also used as a temporary shelter for one resident early Saturday morning, Mr. Cantwell said. Mary Grace Mullen of Buell Lane lost power on Friday night and went out to her car to keep warm at about 4 a.m. An hour later, she called Mr. Cantwell at home, and he dug his own truck out of the snow, making it to her house at about 6 a.m.
Mr. Cantwell packed up her and her two dogs and brought them to Village Hall, where he made coffee and sat with her until Village Police could take her to a shelter at East Hampton Town Hall at 10 a.m. The town also opened a warming center at the Montauk Playhouse Community Center, which remained open through Sunday morning.
Southampton Town Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst also declared a state of emergency for the town, which she lifted at 8 p.m. on Saturday. The town reported about 800 power outages in total but did not opt to open any emergency shelters.
Southampton Town Highway Superintendent Alex Gregor said most of the town roads were cleared and opened by Saturday night, though it took a bit longer to plow private roads. “The problem is that we got a lot of snow and rain first that turned into ice,” he said. “The men and women of the Highway Department were going 30 hours straight.” His department also used payloaders to free trucks that were stuck in the snow.
The biggest problem, he said, was navigating and plowing around vehicles that residents had abandoned in the streets after they got stuck. “That is dangerous and really, actually, against the law when the snow emergency is in effect,” he said.
Mr. Gregor, who joined his staff in the cleanup effort, said highway workers towed seven cars from Dune Road that were abandoned in snowdrifts. He added that a town plowing truck is still stuck in a ditch in Shinnecock Hills, where it became lodged after coming over the hill and swerving to avoid a van that was left in the street.
“We just need to be thankful that we don’t live in snow country, where this is a regular event,” he said.
The storm disrupted travel across Long Island, leaving nearly 200 vehicles stranded on the Long Island Expressway. The road was shut for snow removal between exits 57 and 73 early Sunday morning and reopened in time for the Monday morning commute.
Geoff Lynch, president of the Hampton Jitney, said a coach bus came to the rescue of one woman whose vehicle got stuck on the LIE while heading east to Southampton. The bus, which left Manhattan at 5 p.m., picked her up and reached its destination after a nearly six-hour journey.
“We had some epic struggles,” Mr. Lynch said. “We thought we were prudent in cancelling the last few trips on Saturday night, but in hindsight, we clearly should have canceled earlier than we did.”
The last bus left the city at 7 p.m. but wasn’t lucky enough to make it to Southampton. With 15 passengers on board, the driver pulled off the LIE at the William Floyd Parkway, where the Jitney remained until about 7 a.m. Saturday morning. Mr. Lynch said the driver kept the vehicle running to keep warm and provided snacks to keep the passengers comfortable.
“We had a lot of drivers who really did an excellent job getting people out,” he said. “We definitely had a lot of nice compliments from passengers, and our drivers that did make it out here, they all did a terrific job getting people to their destinations.”
