Flashbacks to chaotic November commute — and how to get your car ready for this winter – The Journal News | LoHud.com

With snow showing up for the first time in a forecast this fall — Tuesday’s outlook holds the promise of rain and the potential for snow, followed by bitter cold — commuters can be forgiven if they break out in a cold sweat, remembering last November. 

One year ago this week, on Nov. 15, 2018, the greater New York region was walloped by a powerful mid-November afternoon-drive snowstorm that was universally summed up by three words: Worst. Commute. Ever.

That storm, which was expected to deliver from two to four inches overnight from New Jersey to the Lower Hudson Valley, arrived earlier and heavier, dropped more than double that snowfall in some areas, caught road crews and public officials completely off guard, and turned routine rides home into something out of Homer’s “Odyssey.”

“It’s like Mad Max out there, but with snow,” wrote one Greenburgh mother on Twitter.

By lunchtime on that day, The National Weather Service’s Winter Weather Advisory was upgraded to a Winter Storm Warning and things got messy, in a hurry.

People left work early, hoping to beat the storm, then got stuck on icy roads — even flat roads — clogging the way and keeping the plows from their appointed rounds.

An epic commute

From Route 23 in New Jersey to the Bronx River Parkway in Westchester to the Palisades Parkway between Rockland and Bergen counties — rechristened the “Palisades Interstate Parking Lot” on Twitter, with hundreds of cars stranded — the shortest of rides became epic.

• In Bergen, getting up the ramp from Route 17 to Allendale Avenue, which would normally fly by without notice, took 30 minutes.
• In Morris County, the bus ride from Pompton Plains to Manhattan, a distance of 28 miles, took 7 hours.
• In White Plains, a six-minute drive from Maple Avenue parking garage to Central Park Avenue took 2 ½ hours. 
• In Manhattan, by late afternoon, the Port Authority was telling people its bus terminal was a lost cause and that passengers should use rail or ferries to get across the Hudson.
• School buses across the region, including one carrying young children in Greenburgh, were stranded for hours. 

There were signs of hope amid the chaos: People digging each other out; pedestrians helping spun-out motorists; stranded motorists getting out of their cars to commiserate.

Snowfall, and political fallout

Snow totals varied from 9 inches in Putnam County’s Garrison to 8 ½ inches in Jefferson Valley in Westchster to 8 in Sloatsburg. In Bergen County, Ramsey and Westwood notched nearly 8 inches. In Passaic, Hawthorne got nearly 6 inches, while Cedar Grove, in Essex County, racked up more than 7 inches.

The storm was one for the books: The 6 inches that fell in New York’s Central Park made November 2018 the snowiest November since 1938.

The powers that be — from New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the MTA, NJ Transit and the Port Authority — were all given “F” grades, often preceded by words that began with that letter.

Murphy asked for patience and got none. He blamed the shifting forecast, and those commuters who tried to beat the storm, for clogging the response. Murphy’s predecessor, Chris Christie, couldn’t resist piling on, tweeting that it took him 5 hours and 40 minutes to commute from Piscataway to Mendham — typically a 35-minute ride.

The winter storms that followed were met with Murphy declaring states of emergency, banning non-essential travel. When a storm brewed on March 3, 2019, Murphy declared the year’s fourth state of emergency tied to weather, saying he wanted to err on the side of caution.

“You get it wrong, you put people’s lives at risk,” he said. “We’re going to lean toward safety and security.”

Murphy declared weather-related emergencies on Jan. 19, Feb. 12, Feb. 20, and March 3. By contrast, Cuomo declared just one weather-related emergency, for all 62 New York counties, on Jan. 19.

Prepare your car for this winter

Which returns us to this week, this storm, this winter, which is still 39 days away, arriving Dec. 21.

Robert Sinclair, of AAA, said his agency is heading into its busiest season.

“Far too many drivers become stranded on the roadside this time of year,” he said. “AAA handles an average of 600,000 emergency roadside assistance calls per week in the winter with the most common problems being dead batteries, extractions, towing and flat tires.” 

Emergency kit

Every car, Sinclair said, should have an “emergency kit” for winter driving, including:

• A bag of abrasive materials such as sand, salt or non-clumping kitty litter for gaining traction in snow and ice
• Snow shovel
• Flashlight
• Gloves or mittens
• Ice scraper and snow brush
• Jumper cables
• Blanket
• Warning flare or triangles
• Cellphone and emergency charger
• Food and water
• First Aid kit

Scott Fallon, Matt Spillane, Gary Stern, Gene Myers contributed to this report.

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