Snow blankets Rockville Centre

The daily rhythm of life in Rockville Centre came to a halt Friday morning as villagers awoke to near whiteout conditions and close to eight inches of heavy, wet snow left behind by the second major winter storm in as many weeks.

Schools were closed — a decision that was made in the wee hours of the morning — and with forecasters calling for more snow throughout the day and into the weekend, many commuters decided to stay home as well.

The Rockville Centre Department of Public Works, which had trucks out sanding overnight, began plowing Friday morning, taking advantage of a brief lull in the snowfall. By afternoon, village roads were down to blacktop and wet, although drivers on some major town and county arteries, including N. Long Beach Road, Merrick Road, Lakeview and DeMott avenues had to contend with a good deal of icy slush on road surfaces. No power outages were reported in the village from the storm.

Shortly after 1 p.m., as light snow continued to fall under a noticably brightening sky, the Village of Rockville Centre used its reverse telephone notification system to call a snow emergency. The recorded message reminded residents that to enable snow plows to clear the roads, no cars should be parked on the street and that any car that is parked on the street might be ticketed. The message also told residents that it is a violation of village code to throw or shovel snow onto the road.

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