BOSTON (AP/WHDH) — State officials are warning of hazardous travel conditions ahead of a multi-day winter storm that could dump more than a foot of snow on the northern part of the state.
Sunday is expected to be the busiest travel day ever for the United State airline industry. Forecasters from ‘Airlines from America’ say 3.1 million people plan to fly, but with the storm ahead many flights are getting delayed and canceled.
7NEWS meteorologist Chris Lambert says a winter storm warning has been issued for areas north and west of Boston along Interstate 95, through Interstate 495, parts of the Merrimack Valley and into Southern New Hampshire. A winter weather advisory has been issued for areas including Boston and Southern Worcester County. Near the south coast of Massachusetts, including the Cape and Islands, there are no watches, warnings or advisories, but the storm will start off as a mix of snow and sleet and then quickly transitioning into rain. The weather alerts will go into effect Sunday and is expected to last into Tuesday.
“If you can get to where you need to be by 3 or 5 o’clock this afternoon that would be great because we are going to have thousands of pieces of equipment out on the road when the snow starts to fall,” Gov. Charlie Baker said.
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation is advising the public that by midday Sunday there will be a mix of heavy snow, freezing rain and strong wind gusts in Western Massachusetts which will arrive in the greater Boston area by 5 p.m.
During the storm, snowfall rates will be 1-2 inches per hour in many areas. The Metro Boston area should see between 2 and 5 inches of snow during the course of the storm, with 5 to 10 inches forecast for the Worcester and Merrimack areas. Northwestern Massachusetts could see up to a foot or more of snow.
MassDOT Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver is advising anyone who has to travel, to leave as early as possible Sunday morning.
To avoid the storm, motorists traveling on roads north and west of Interstate 495 should be off the roads by 3 p.m. and motorists traveling east and south of Interstate 495 should be off the roads by 5 p.m.
“We are doing a lot of pre-treatment on a lot of our roads and a lot of prep work and pre-positioning of equipment on the public transportation system with the goal of trying to make sure that by tomorrow morning people will be able to get to where they need to go,” Baker said.
As the system evolves off the Southern New England coastline, the rain/snow line will hover within the Interstate 495 corridor into Monday morning’s commute, 7NEWS Meteorologist Jackie Layer predicts. While the storm will slack off early Monday evening, it will build up again through Tuesday morning.
The snow will continue to fall in higher elevations and areas inland, with plowable snow likely for Worcester County and parts of southern New Hampshire, she added. State officials said more than 3,000 plows will be on the roads Sunday.
“Don’t crowd the plow, give those folks a lot of room because they are, in some respects, concentrating on the work they are doing to keep the roads or get the roads as clean as they possibly can and if you are traveling nearby them you should give them a wide berth,” Baker said.
This is an event that is spread out from Sunday night until early Tuesday morning so it won’t dump all this snow in a short amount of time. Crews should be able to keep up with the snow.
People are rushing to get ready as stores are seeing a wave of people coming in for snowblowers, shovels, and ice melt.
American and Delta Airlines are preparing for the storm by offering waivers to eligible travelers. Delta is offering them in 22 cities throughout the Northeast, including Boston and New York, for Sunday and Monday.
7NEWS will continue to track this storm and provide updates as they become available.
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