EVENING UPDATE: Temperatures Will Drop Wednesday Night; Roads Expected to Freeze

A wet winter storm that brought ice to Long Island has switched over to rain, causing a new round of issues for local motorists.

The National Weather Service says temperatures will drop through the evening, meaning the standing water on roadways will freeze.  That means there is a new possibility of Wednesday night. 

The Long Island Railroad returned to normal afternoon service after operating on a weekend schedule during the morning commute. Plainview schools opened Wednesday following a 90-minute delay. 

Nassau County Police reported responding to 30 auto accidents between midnight and 9 a.m. Wednesday and advised drivers to use caution on the roads. There were no reported serious injuries.

The Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway suffered flooding at the Long Island Expressway exit. The area affected Wednesday morning was in the southbound lane at Exit 44, the eastbound entrance to the LIE.

Long Island experienced some power outages due to electrical lines down in the roadways. The worst appeared to be in Huntington, where a downed wire stopped traffic on Jericho Turnpike for a while. A school bus was reported to be stuck in a large sink hole in Wantagh Wednesday afternoon. The children were off-loaded and unhurt, according to reports.

The Northern State Parkway near Plainview was the scene of two major pileups Tuesday evening after the road surface suddenly became an ice field.

At least two cars overturned on the westbound parkway, one involving 10 cars near Sunnyside Boulevard, another between Broadway and South Oyster Bay Road reportedly involving 12 cars.

Portions of the parkway were still closed before midnight. Nassau County Police had requested sanding equipment, which had not yet arrived. The closure affected the westbound lanes from Round Swamp Road to NY-135.

Plainview and Syosset firefighters were called to the scene, among other teams of first responders.

The icing was the result of a two-part winter storm that brought snow, sleet and freezing rain to the region Tuesday and is continuing into Wednesday.