Americas

Americas

Storm brings heavy snow to Massachusetts coast

15 February 2014 23:21 (UTC +04:00)

At the height of the storm Saturday night, snow will fall at rates of up to 3 inches per hour in some areas, forecasters said. Massachusetts State Police issued a terse "Stay in tonight" warning on its Twitter feed.

"At the height of the storm, it won't be possible to keep up with the clearing of the roads," said Gov. Deval Patrick. He asked residents who live east of Marlborough, which is all of eastern Massachusetts inside Route 495, to stay off the roads between 5 p.m. Saturday and 5 a.m. Sunday morning.

The National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning for coastal Essex County, Cape Cod and the Islands and east coastal Plymouth County from Saturday afternoon through Sunday morning.

While Boston is not included in the blizzard warning area, all of eastern Massachusetts was under a winter storm warning.

Snowfall amounts of up to 15 inches were forecast in some areas along the coast.

Among the communities included in the blizzard warning area were Gloucester, Plymouth, Chatham, Falmouth and Provincetown.

The snow began Saturday afternoon and should be over by 8 a.m. Sunday morning.

"This storm will be significant in Cape Ann and southeastern Massachusetts, including the Cape, and has the potential to cause blizzard conditions, power outages, beach erosion and pockets of minor coastal flooding," the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency said.

Eight to 12 inches of snow is expected in coastal southeastern Massachusetts.

"The snow, heavy and wet in nature, will likely contribute to downed trees and power lines," MEMA said. "Snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour are possible between 5 p.m. Saturday and 12 a.m. Sunday."

Boston, eastern Massachusetts and Cape Cod are expected to see 6 to 10 inches, while 4 to 6 inches were forecast outside Route 128. Central Massachusetts is expected to get just a few inches.

A blizzard warning means there is a potential for considerable falling and/or blowing snow with sustained winds or frequent gusts more than 35 mph and visibilities below 1/4 mile for at least three hours.

The is a "potential for minor coastal flooding, especially along the coast facing Cape Cod Bay, as well as Nantucket Harbor and Provincetown Harbor," MEMA said. wcvb.com