The Town of Southampton Police Department are warning local ice skaters taking advantage of the cold temperatures by lacing up on the area's frozen ponds to stay off the ice.
This photograph taken earlier today captures some ice hockey enthusiasts warming up on the frozen estuary just north of Montauk Highway near Clover Grass Court in Westhampton. More players were arriving as the photograph was taken.
Neither Southampton Town police nor Westhampton Beach Village police said they've received any emergency calls for victims falling through the ice, but expressed concerns as the mercury heads back upward.
"Even though the ice is still thick now, because of the past few days I would say it would be most prudent not to go out onto the ice because it is warming up," Town of Southampton Police Sergeant Sue Ralph told Patch. "It's going to warm up to 48 or 50 degrees this weekend, so that could pose a danger with the ice breaking."
Sgt. Ralph said even though the polar vortex ushered in record freezing temps, the cold snap only last three days, and that's not long to safely freeze the waterways.
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