So far, Long Island had only received an inch of snow for the Winter. On Monday, Jan 14th, it looked like maybe a little light snow over the up-coming weekend from a small storm moving south of Long Island. By Wednesday, Jan 16th, the computers were saying that it would be further south, and no snow.

Midday Thursday, Jan 18th, the computers were changing their minds again. Now they thought that this small & fast moving storm would be tracking further north. Forecast called for snow from later Saturday afternoon until dawn on Sunday.

By Friday afternoon, after several consistent computer runs, it looked like a snowstorm was headed towards Long Island.

WINTER STORM OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY
345 PM EST FRI JAN 18 2002

...WINTRY WEATHER HEADED FOR THE TRI-STATE REGION...

LOW PRESSURE WILL DEVELOP ALONG THE NORTH CAROLINA COAST SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND WILL HEAD OUT TO SEA SATURDAY NIGHT...PASSING TO THE SOUTH OF LONG ISLAND. SNOW WILL OVERSPREAD THE REGION SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND SHOULD CONTINUE INTO SATURDAY NIGHT BEFORE TAPERING OFF AFTER MIDNIGHT.
BASED ON CURRENT PROJECTIONS...AREAS INCLUDING EXTREME NORTHERN NEW JERSEY...THE LOWER HUDSON VALLEY OF NEW YORK AND SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT MAY RECEIVE SNOW AMOUNTS OF 3 TO 5 INCHES. THIS IS BELOW THE CRITERIA FOR A WINTER STORM WATCH OR WARNING.

NEW YORK CITY...METRO NEW JERSEY AND LONG ISLAND HAVE THE GREATEST THREAT OF RECEIVING SNOWFALL OF 6 OR MORE INCHES...AND WINTER STORM WATCHES HAVE BEEN ISSUED FOR THOSE AREAS.

The afternoon Special Weather Statement.

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY
320 PM EST SAT JAN 19 2002

...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONTINUES THE WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THE NEW YORK CITY METRO AREA...PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY AND LONG ISLAND...
...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THE REST OF NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY NOT PREVIOUSLY IN THE WARNING AND FOR SOUTHERN WESTCHESTER COUNTY NEW YORK...
...A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR THE LOWER HUDSON VALLEY AND SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT...
A FAST MOVING AND QUICKLY DEVELOPING STORM WILL SLIP SOUTH OF THE REGION THROUGH LATE THIS EVENING. ALTHOUGH THE TRACK IS A COUPLE OF HUNDRED MILES SOUTH OF THE AREA...THE PRECIPITATION SHIELD WILL EXTEND WELL TO THE NORTH. A LARGE AREA OF SNOW WILL HAVE SPREAD ACROSS THE REGION FROM THE WEST THROUGH THE EARLY EVENING HOURS.
BY NIGHTFALL...THERE WILL BE 2 TO 3 INCHES OF SNOW ACROSS INTERIOR NORTHERN NEW JERSEY...THE NEW YORK METRO AREA AND PORTIONS OF THE LOWER HUDSON VALLEY. THE SNOW WILL HAVE STARTED A LITTLE LATER ACROSS LONG ISLAND AND SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT...SO AMOUNTS THERE BY NIGHTFALL WILL BE A LITTLE LESS.
IT WILL BE A STEADY SNOW...AND OCCASIONALLY MODERATE THROUGH THE LATE EVENING HOURS. TOTAL SNOWFALL FROM THIS SYSTEM WILL RANGE FROM 3 TO 5 INCHES IN THE FAR NORTHWEST...TO 4 TO 7 INCHES FROM NEW YORK CITY AND ACROSS LONG ISLAND.

THE SNOW WILL TAPER OFF TOWARD MIDNIGHT IN THE FAR WEST AND A COUPLE HOURS AFTER MIDNIGHT ON EASTERN LONG ISLAND.
BY SUNDAY MORNINGS LIGHT...THE SNOWY LANDSCAPE WILL REFLECT BRIGHT SUNSHINE. ROADS WILL LIKELY BECOME VERY TREACHEROUS THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS AS SNOW FALLS AT NEARLY ONE INCH PER HOUR RATE FOR A FEW HOURS. THE SUNSHINE AND TEMPERATURES RISING ABOVE FREEZING WILL ASSIST IN MELTING OF THE SNOW ON MAJOR ROADS SUNDAY MORNING.

The snow fell very lightly for the rest of the afternoon and evening. By 10:30 PM there was about 2" of snow on the ground.

The storm remained very disorganized as it move towards the Virginia coast, and the secondary system developed a little further out in the ocean than expected. The NWS sent this out.

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY 1028 PM EST SAT JAN 19 2002
...LIGHT SNOW CONTINUES ACROSS THE REGION...
.AN INTENSIFYING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WAS EAST OF THE DELAWARE COAST AND SPREADING SNOW ACROSS THE REGION. THE LOW WILL CONTINUE TO DEEPEN AND MOVE TO THE NORTHEAST OVERNIGHT. AS THE LOW MOVES AWAY FROM THE REGION THE SNOW WILL COME TO AN END DURING THE OVERNIGHT HOURS.
NORTHEAST SUFFOLK NY-NORTHWEST SUFFOLK NY-SOUTHEAST SUFFOLK NY-SOUTHWEST SUFFOLK NY-
...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS CANCELLED THE WINTER STORM WARNING...
...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 200 AM SUNDAY...
LIGHT SNOW WILL CONTINUE UNTIL AROUND MIDNIGHT AND THEN TAPER OFF BEFORE ENDING AROUND 200 AM SUNDAY MORNING. SNOWFALL AMOUNTS HAVE BEEN AROUND 2 INCHES...AND AN ADDITIONAL INCH OR TWO IS POSSIBLE BEFORE THE SNOW ENDS. THEREFORE THE WINTER STORM WARNING HAS BEEN DOWNGRADED TO A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY.

The snow ended around 1 AM for a grand total of 3 inches. You can see pictures of the snow and radars at Page 2