Unexpected snow and sleet make travel difficult; multiple accidents on local roads

Falling snow and sleet this morning created slippery road conditions all over Riverhead, contributing to several accidents in a two-hour period.

The weather seemed to take forecasters and highway officials by surprise. The National Weather Service forecast early this morning called for “periods of rain and drizzle…with highs in the mid 40s” today. That changed later on to sa forecast of now and sleet with accumulations of about an inch. Later still, the weather service increased the predicted accumulation to between one and three inches.

“Precipitation has been in the forecast, and we had been saying there was the chance of snow, but we were originally expecting it to be warm enough to be all rain,” said meteorologist Lauren Nash at the National Weather Service in Upton. “When it starts sleeting and it’s 34 degrees, it just gets colder, and the precipitation becomes snow.” The speed of the system and therefore the timing of its arrival made the difference, she said.

Town, county and state crews were salting and sanding this morning as the rain changed to sleet and snow. But slushy, slippery surfaces were factors in several mishaps on local-area roadways.

The most serious was a two-car crash on East Main Street shortly after 10 this morning that sent three people to Peconic Bay Medical Center. A Toyota sedan attempting to make a left into the westbound lane of East Main Street in front of the Washwick Insurance Agency was T-boned by an eastbound Hyundai SUV, according to Riverhead Police.

Riverhead Fire Department heavy rescue was called to pull the two vehicles apart so the occupants of the Toyota, who were trapped within, could be extracted from the vehicle.

The driver and a passenger in the Toyota, as well as the driver of the Hyundai were transported by Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance Corps to Peconic Bay Medical Center for treatment of injuries police described as not life-threatening.

A Ford Escape SUV northbound on County Road 105 skidded off the roadway and into the woods south of the Hubbard Avenue exit at about 11:45 a.m. The woman driving the vehicle and a child passenger were not injured in the mishap.

Moments later on Sound Avenue another a GMC skidded off the road onto the shoulder. Police were called to the scene; no one was injured in that accident.

A fourth crash in the same time period involved two cars on Route 58 just west of the Kroemer Avenue intersection where earlier this morning an accident sent an elderly woman to the hospital. See prior story.