Another winter storm began hitting southern New England on Saturday afternoon and meteorologists said the region will experience heavy snow, strong winds and blizzard conditions near the Massachusetts coast before the storm clears out today.
The National Weather Service said Massachusetts and parts of Rhode Island will bear the brunt of the storm, with 10 to 14 inches of snow.
“Connecticut will see heaviest snowfall amounts near the Rhode Island border, with lesser amounts as you head further west,” meteorologist William Babcock said. “So there might be 8 to 10 inches right along the Rhode Island border, maybe 4 to 6 around Willimantic and 2 to 4 around Hartford.”
At its peak, the storm will dump snow at the rate of up to 3 inches per hour, Babcock said.
Massachusetts Ports Authority officials are urging travelers to check with their airlines before heading to Logan International Airport in Boston after the latest winter storm triggered slew of flight cancellations.
The airport operator says most domestic airlines will have limited operations at Logan Saturday evening and night. Most international flights are expected to operate.
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick urged drivers to stay off the roads from 5 p.m. Saturday to 5 a.m. Sunday, and said “it won’t be possible to keep up with the clearing of the roads” during the storm.
The storm is expected to spawn blizzard conditions in several spots along the eastern Massachusetts coastline, including Cape Ann, Hingham, Cape Cod and surrounding islands.
“These areas could be seeing winds reaching up to 70 mph, blowing snow and creating extremely poor visibility,” Babcock said. “People should be preparing for deteriorating conditions … People should be ready to stay off the roads and the good thing is a lot of this will be at night, when people are normally off the roads.”
The Rhode Island coast areas north and northwest of Boston will experience winds of up to 45mph that will blow the snow and create chilly conditions.
People who have to venture outside should be prepared to encounter strong winds and temperatures that will be in the lower 20s, Babcock said.
Boston Mayor Martin Walsh announced that the city will deploy more than 600 snow plows, trucks and other equipment by Saturday evening to deal with the storm. He said additional police officers, firefighters and paramedics will be on hand throughout the storm to ensure public safety.
Conditions will start to improve on Sunday, when the sky will clear out, said Babcock, the meteorologist.
Still, temperatures will stay below freezing and winds will blow at 15 to 30 mph, Babcock said.
Across New England, the full weight of winter was being felt.
In New Jersey, authorities were advising the owners of homes and commercial buildings to remove snow from their roofs. The advisories came after dozens of roof collapses were reported in recent days. At least a couple inches of new snow on Saturday fell on winter-weary Pennsylvania as roofs sagged and the price of road salt goes through the roof. As many as 7 inches were reported by the National Weather Service in one county.
In Maine, a 45 mph speed restriction is in place for the entire Maine Turnpike as the storm threatened to drop between 12 and 20 inches of snow in some spots.
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