A complex long-duration snow storm is began Saturday night and will last through Monday night in Southern New England. The storm is likely to dump nearly 2 feet of snow on the hardest hit areas near Boston. It is a tricky snow forecast in Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts. The graphic below represents the storm’s impacts primarily in Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts – not the harder hit areas near Boston.
Car Travel Impact
The storm may produce 6-10″ of snow north of a Providence to Plymouth line, but it will be spread out over a couple of days, and it does not look like the kind of storm that will shut down roads. The snowfall rate may be light enough that road crews can keep up with the main roads, and it would not shock me if the highways were not snow-covered most of the time. However, there are some large snow banks on the sides of roads in all of Southern New England. That limits visibility, and can make it a bit hazardous for drivers and pedestrians. Snowy side roads are likely from Sunday night through Monday night. We’ve seen worse, but it will not be ideal driving conditions.
School Impact
We were torn between a straight orange bus and the half orange/red bus. We opted for the latter, but the impact may not be that high in the southern half of RI and coastal SE MA. If I were advising RI and SE MA school superintendents (I’m not), I would suggest waiting until early Monday morning before canceling school. Snow days are piling up, and although there will likely be snow on Monday, roads may be in good enough shape, especially in the southern half of RI and coastal SE MA, that snow could safely be in session. There is a better chance that school will need to be cancelled on Monday in Providence County and northern Bristol/Plymouth Counties in MA. The bottom-line is with a 3.5 out of 4 on the school impact scale, many people may want to prepare for a cancellation on Monday. It’s just not a slam dunk in Southern RI and coastal SE MA.
Air Travel Impact
The slow and steady nature of this storm may not have the impact on the airports that you’d expect from an 8″ (Providence) or 15″ (Boston) storm. There are likely to be some cancellations in Boston as the snow really piles up late Sunday night in Boston. Crews have a better chance of keeping runways clear in Providence where about half the amount of snow is expected. The storm is primarily impacting Southern New England, so there should not be many residual effects from Mid-Atlantic airports.
Snow Totals
See our snowfall map on the Live Blog. The 4-14″ represents RI and SE MA. We’re expecting much more near Boston.
Precipitation Types
It looks like mainly snow, but some mixed precipitation (sleet) cannot be ruled out near the coast.
Peak Wind
Persistent northeast winds will likely lead to some beach erosion in Eastern Massachusetts. Tides are astronomically low, and significant coastal flooding is not expected.