Snow blanketed Rockville Centre and the rest of Long Island throughout the day Sunday and into Monday, with about 10 inches falling in the village.
The total aligned with forecasters’ predictions of 8 to 12 inches of accumulation through Monday. Freezing rain mixed with the snow by midafternoon Sunday, creating hazardous conditions throughout the village.
The precipitation tapered off by Monday morning, as residents grabbed shovels or fired up snowblowers, creating mounds of snow on their properties.
Despite the snow and sleet, Village of Rockville Centre spokesperson Julie Grilli said no power outages were reported and roads were “looking good” by late Monday morning. She added that Department of Public Works crews were making multiple passes through village streets to ensure safe conditions.
Grilli also noted that “99 percent” of residents fully complied with the village’s snow emergency rules, which included not parking vehicles on streets to allow plows to clear roadways and removing basketball hoops from curb strips or laying them flat.
“They helped our crews efficiently remove the snow,” Grilli said of residents.
Grilli added that DPW crews will continue working throughout the week to remove large banks of snow in village parking lots.
Village officials reminded residents that vehicles left on the street during snow emergencies may be ticketed and that it is against local code to shovel or blow snow into the street, citing hazardous conditions for motorists and plows. Property owners are responsible for clearing snow and ice from sidewalks within 24 hours of the storm’s end, including sidewalks on corner properties and access ramps, and for keeping fire hydrants fully accessible for emergency responders.
The Rockville Centre School District closed all schools Monday due to the storm, giving children of all ages a day to build snowmen and sled down nearby hills.
The Rockville Centre Public Library was closed Sunday and Monday because of the inclement weather. “The Piano Men: A Tribute to Billy Joel and Elton John,” originally scheduled for Sunday, has been postponed to Feb. 22 at 2 p.m., according to the library’s website.
The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for the area, forecasting heavy snowfall, strong winds and dangerously cold temperatures. Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency Friday for Long Island, while Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman and Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine issued similar declarations for their respective counties.
“We are preparing for the worst,” Blakeman said Friday. He noted that Nassau County’s warming center at 1200 Old Country Road in Westbury will remain open and monitored 24/7, stocked with blankets, ready meals and other necessities, and will continue operating “until we determine the cold is gone.”
Grilli said the DPW began preparing for the storm Wednesday and started salting roadways at 5 a.m. Sunday, ahead of plowing operations. Additional salt has been ordered, and the village currently has about 1,500 tons stored in its new shed.
Once snowfall reached approximately 3 to 4 inches, DPW crews began plowing village-owned roads — a process that involves multiple rounds across 13 plow sections using 17 trucks — according to the village website. County- and state-owned roads, including Long Beach Road, Hempstead Avenue, Merrick Road, Peninsula Boulevard and Sunrise Highway, are maintained by Nassau County and New York State crews.
“DPW crews are working diligently to ensure the safety of our roadways, which include 53 miles of streets, 30 parking fields and all village-owned sidewalks,” Grilli wrote in a text Sunday.
The story will be updated if necessary.
