I arrived in Montauk late evening January 1 to a cold, calm, quiet ocean side town. With a full moon (and still somewhat blue from the night before) there was an eerie feeling – a definite calm before the storm. Not much to see at night, I decided I would get a good nights sleep and get up early to see what evolves from this developing storm system that was inching its way closer to the Point.
When I woke up on 02-01-2010, I was greeted with this alert from the local weather service: AN INTENSE WINTER STORM IS PASSING WELL EAST OF LONG ISLAND THIS MORNING. PERSISTENT BANDS OF SNOW WILL CONTINUE ACROSS EASTERN LONG ISLAND AND SOUTHEASTERN CONNECTICUT AS VERY STRONG NORTHWEST WINDS OF 25 TO 35 MPH CONTINUE TO USHER IN VERY COLD AIR. GUSTS ARE EXPECTED TO BE AS HIGH AS 50 MPH. WHERE SNOW IS FALLING REDUCTIONS IN VISIBILITY CAN BE EXPECTED DUE TO BLOWING SNOW. SUB ZERO WIND CHILLS CAN ALSO BE EXPECTED. ALONG THE IMMEDIATE COAST THERE MAY BE A RISK OF TIDAL FLOODING AND FREEZING SPRAY.
The Palindrome Nor’easter had officially begun, and deserving a rating of 5 on the notional weather excitement index, it looked like this:
