Long Island Snowstorm: 40K Without Power; Roads Impassable

An intense nor'easter that seemed to start with a whimper Wednesday morning wreaked havoc on Long Island as the day wore on, knocking out power to tens of thousands and making the evening commute a complete mess.

And we are not out of the woods yet. A winter storm warning remains in effect until 4 a.m. for most of the island and the National Weather Service says "heavy snow will continue late this evening before tapering off in coverage and intensity. Any heavier snow will fall at the rate of 2 to 3 inches per hour locally, with visibility less than one quarter mile. Near blizzard conditions are possible as winds gust to 30 to 35 mph, with considerable blowing and drifting of snow. Nonessential travel is discouraged. Travel will be very difficult to impossible. Be prepared for additional power outages and closed roads due to heavy snow weighing down trees or limbs."

Western Suffolk County seems to have gotten the brunt of the storm so far. Check out the wild photo below of cars stuck on a snowy roadway in Middle Island. See the latest Long Island snowfall total reports here.

As of 10:17 p.m., PSEG Long Island says 40,850 of its customers are without power. See the outage map here.

As Wednesday night progresses, winds will diminish, snow will taper off and a large disparity in snowfall totals will be realized across the region, the NWS says.

Many school districts across the island have already announced delayed openings for Thursday.

• RELATED: Long Island School Closings For Thursday, March 8

Check out this video that caught some thundersnow on the East End this afternoon:

Main photo by Duncan Stewart