By David E. Hubler
Contributor, EDM Digest
Boston was under 14.5 inches of snow Wednesday, the result of the third nor’easter in two weeks. The latest storm set records for most snowfall recorded on March 13 and for the most snowfall recorded over a one-day period in March, the Boston Globe reported. Another snowstorm is expected next week.
Winds were clocked as high as 35 miles per hour with occasional gusts of 65 mph, creating blizzard conditions.
Thousands of Homes on Cape Cod and Other Areas Are Without Power
In addition, thousands of homes — largely on Cape Cod and Southeastern Massachusetts — are without electric power. Little relief is in sight because temperatures are expected to remain in the low to mid-30 degrees “thanks to an establish[ed] snowpack,” the National Weather Service said.
Other areas subjected to blizzard conditions included Boston, Hyannis, Martha’s Vineyard, Plymouth and Newport, Rhode Island. Wilmington, Massachusetts, recorded the most snow in the state with 31 inches, the NWS told the Globe.
As many as 240,000 customers lost power at some point during the storm, the Boston Herald reported. By Tuesday night, that number had dropped to 200,904. Entire towns, including Provincetown and Chatham, were completely dark at one point.
Work Crews Sent Out to Clear Roads and Restore Power when Conditions Permit
“The state Department of Transportation deployed 3,200 pieces of snow-fighting equipment on highways and the Boston Department of Public Works had more than 700 plows and sanders on the job throughout the day, clearing snow that was quickly replaced by the fast-blowing blizzard,” the Herald reported.
Eversource Power Company spokesman Michael Durand said, “This storm has created miserable, difficult conditions and widespread power outages on the South Shore, the Cape and the South Coast. Between the heavy, wet snow and the blizzard-like conditions caused by the wind, we temporarily had to suspend much of our restoration activity because it just was not safe for crews to be out working in that weather.”
High winds prevented crews from using their bucket trucks.
“Even though they don’t have specific times yet, the utility companies are calling this a multi-day restoration effort,” Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency spokesman Chris Besse told the Herald. “We wish it was a quicker process. They’ve got several hundred crews on standby staging in the southeast part of the state. As soon as it dies down, they’ll get to work as quick as they can.”
Record-Setting Snowfall in North Foster and Providence
In Rhode Island, the town of North Foster won the state’s snow sweepstakes with 25.1 inches of snow, the Providence Journal said. Providence also set a record for the date with 9.5 inches of snow.
“If the snow season ended today, Providence would have a total of 45.9 inches, the Weather Service tweeted, which would mark a tie for 26th snowiest in the city history,” the Journal noted. “But that might not be all. The Weather Service has issued a special weather statement for snow squalls this afternoon and evening. Forecasters are also eyeing a possible storm next week.”
Snowstorm Fails to Delay Birth of New Hampshire Boy
The storm did not deter Logan Alexander from his birthday. The boy was born at home in Salem, New Hampshire, “while crews with the Salem Fire Department battled whiteout conditions to get to their Porcupine Circle residence,” the Union Leader reported.
“Certainly in weather like this, people are hesitant to head out to the hospital and risk being on the roads unless the birth is imminent, and in this particular case it was and the baby wasn’t going to wait until they got to the hospital,” Jeffery Emanuelson, fire marshal and deputy chief of the Salem fire department, told the Union Leader newspaper.
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