Heavy snowfall stalls local transit

As snow fell late into Thursday morning, potentially turning to freezing rain and then back to snow later in the afternoon, according to The National Weather Service, South Shore residents braved a heavy commute whited out by thick snowfall and scattered with some service delays on local transit.

Nassau County’s snow plows, salters and sanders were out in force Thursday morning, a county spokesman said, as these vehicles’ operators worked to clear the roadways while thick, wet snowflakes fell rapidly.

Brian Nevin, the county spokesman, said at 7 a.m. that this work had cleared the county’s main roadway “arteries” down to the blacktop or a light coating of snow. But Nevin also warned of slick driving conditions due to accumulated snow from today and recent weeks as well as expected sleet and rain later today. He urged residents not to venture out on the roads unless very necessary, and to use caution if they do drive.

Crews began pre-treating county roads with brine at midnight to reduce the accumulation of snow, according to Nevin. He said the county received a shipment of 1,000 tons of salt yesterday and is well-stocked with more than 6,000 tons of salt on hand.

MTA spokesman Sal Arena said the Long Island Rail Road operated on a regular peak schedule Thursday morning, with only some weather-related delays.