A heavy winter storm arrived in Massachusetts Sunday morning, bringing the kind of snow that hasn’t been seen locally in years. At least a foot of snow is expected to land in the Boston area.
Gov. Maura Healey had one message above all others for Massachusetts residents on Sunday: Stay home. And maybe even more importantly, stay off the roads.
Even if that meant parking on your couch to watch the Patriots play in the AFC Championship.
“This is the biggest storm we’ve seen in years,” Healey said from the State Emergency Operations Center in Framingham. “So, my message to the public is: Look, it’s gonna snow through ‘til tomorrow night. It’s wicked cold already. We’re going to have massive amounts of snow over the next three, four hours. Visibility is going to be terrible. So stay off the roads, please. And that’s for your own safety and the safety of others.”
Schools in several districts — including Boston and Worcester — will be closed Monday.
Charge your electronic devices and find any backup batteries for medical devices, in particular, officials advised. And, even once the snow stops, be careful getting around: Sidewalks, steps and roadways are bound to have icy patches after such an intense storm.
Dave Epstein, GBH’s meteorologist, urged people not to drive.
“I highly recommend being off the roads between, say, 2 and 4 o’clock this afternoon because after that time the snow is gonna be coming down so hard, it’s gonna make roads and travel very difficult,” he said. “And that snow is going to be very heavy up to 3 in the morning — then, basically, everything is done.”
Epstein forecasts that, after a lull, some lighter snow will resume Monday into the evening.
Widespread snow, sleet and freezing rain threatened nearly 180 million people — more than half the U.S. population — in a path stretching from the southern Rocky Mountains to New England, the National Weather Service said Saturday night.
The heavy snowfall had already made a big impact just a couple of hours into its arrival in the Boston area.
A weather advisory on Logan Airport’s website read that “almost all flights to and from Logan are canceled Sunday afternoon and evening, as well as Monday morning” due to the storm. Nearly 11,000 flights in the United States, or flying into the country, today were canceled, according to FlightAware.
Dawn Brantley, director of the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, said the most significant impacts of the storm will likely be on transportation.
Still, she advised to make sure phones, laptops and other essential devices are charged in the case of a power outage. She also said to check appliance exhaust vents aren’t obstructed by snow or ice during and after the storm. And make sure to have and locate extra batteries for medical equipment and assistive devices.
Transportation officials warned people to be careful traveling, whether they’re taking public transit or driving. Even with frequent plowing, Massachusetts’ Department of Transportation’s Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver warned the roads will be dangerous.
“Even with multiple treatments, with this intensity of a storm, plows cannot keep up and treatment cannot keep up,” Gulliver said. “You will see roadways that are very slippery and you’re going to see roadway conditions continue to deteriorate as the day goes on today, especially this afternoon into this evening.”
Interim MassDOT secretary and MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng recommended that anyone who did need to travel to consider using mass transportation. He said the commuter rail will run on storm schedules Monday.
“We are reminding any riders that use the system, use caution,” Eng said. “[When] you’re walking on stairs, use handrails. Do not run, give yourself extra time. It may be slippery out there.”
But the thick snowfall won’t be the only problem. The aftermath can be dangerous, too. Matthew Mostofi, an emergency medical physician at Tufts Medical Center, is expecting an increase in snow-related visits to the hospital.
“Probably our biggest thing are people slipping on black ice, falling, broken ankles, broken wrists, knocks on the head,” he said. “These are things that we will definitely see an uptick [of] on Monday morning.”
GBH’s Judie Yuill contributed to this story.
