Aren’t You Glad You Live in Florida? Long Island Snowstorm Turns Dangerous Overnight: A Firsthand Look at One of the Worst Winter Storms in Years

This past Sunday through Monday, I experienced one of the worst snowstorms in my lifetime. Growing up in Long Island always had me familiar with snow. Every winter, we get a few decent snow showers, and usually they are not so bad, and occasionally we get a bad storm. But this one was different from the start. It went from peaceful to completely hazardous in just a few hours.

On Sunday afternoon, the snow began to fall lightly just as I left my job. At first, it looked nice, the kind of snow that makes you feel peaceful. I thought it might just be another average flurry. But as the day went on, it quickly got worse. The snowflakes grew larger, and the wind swirled them around so sharply that it no longer looked like regular snow. It covered the ground completely and stuck to everything instantly.

By Sunday night, it was honestly crazy to even see with my own eyes. I looked out my window and couldn’t even see the road. The lines on the street were gone, and the sidewalks blended seamlessly into the road. Everything looked like one massive white plain. Cars parked outside slowly were buried beneath the snow, making it hard to tell where driveways ended and where the street would begin.

What made it feel even crazier was how empty everything was. Normally, at least a few cars pass through the neighborhood, but that night there was nobody . No headlights, no sounds of tires just wind swooshing in the air. The gusts were so strong they rattled the windows, and occasionally it sounded like a rock hit the side of the house. It was just snow being blown around, but it kept me aware to see what was happening.

When I woke up Monday morning, it seemed unreal. The snow had piled up far more than my expectations. My car was completely covered, and I could barely see it beneath all that snow on top and around it. The road still looked messy and packed down, even though plows had tried to clear it. Huge piles of snow lined the sides, making everything feel tighter and more cramped.

Since I drive myself to school, my first was about how I would even get my car out if we had school the next day. There was no way I could drive safely on those roads the way they looked. They were slick, uneven, and still half covered. When I found out school was canceled, I wasn’t surprised, but also relieved. It would have been dangerous trying to get anywhere.

Going outside was a whole different story. The shivering cold hit me immediately, and the snow was far deeper than it seemed. Every step got deeper, making it feel like I was walking through something heavy instead of soft and fluffy. Shoveling my driveway was super exhausting and tiring. The snow wasn’t light at all; it was thick and compacted. After just a few minutes, my arms were already so tired. By that time, it felt like the storm wasn’t done just yet.

The strangest part was how quiet everything felt after it stopped. Normally, you hear traffic in the distance or people moving around, but all I could hear was the scrape of shovels and the rumble of plows and snow blowers. It was as if the whole island paused for a day.

Even though I’ve lived on Long Island my whole life and am used to winter weather, this storm was really a bad one. The roads were completely covered, cars were buried, and everything felt frozen in place. It was chaotic, freezing, and honestly just insane to comprehend. But it’s one of those storms I’ll probably remember for years because of how quickly everything changed from the start of the storm all the way to the end.

Shea Kuschel is a Senior at Smithtown High School East on Long Island.