On Monday afternoon, the storm system that brought record-breaking snowfall to parts of Rhode Island, and a historic storm to Boston and the entire east coast, will continue to slowly meander eastward.
This storm is record-breaking for Providence. Prior to today, the Blizzard of ’78 had brought the most snowfall to that city, with 28.6 inches, but as of early afternoon, 32.8 inches of snow had fallen, shattering the old record. The fact that the record was broken by more than four inches is notable.
Around Boston, we’ve seen 12 to 18 inches of snow from route 495 eastward toward the route 95 corridor, with 16 to 24 inches of snow from Boston down to Providence. There are exceptions where even higher totals occurred.
For the rest of the afternoon, the storm will slowly subside. Snowfall will completely shut off around Boston within an hour or two of 7 p.m., but most of the accumulation will be done by 5 p.m. As of 2 p.m., we can should expect another one to three inches in the afternoon east of 495 before it is completely done.
If you still have power as you’re reading this then you’re probably in the clear, and won’t lose power the rest of the day as the wind heads into the ocean. That doesn’t mean that winds are going away, nor that we won’t see strong gusts into the early evening, but the heaviest wind gusts are now behind us.
Folks on Cape and Islands will be the last to see the strong wind subside.
As of 1 p.m., Logan Airport had reported 14.4 in of snow and there was still a bit more snow coming.
The wind has been impressive. Wellfleet saw a gust of 77 miles an hour just after 7 a.m., and Nantucket reached 83 mph a couple of hours later. Closer to Boston, Hull saw a 70 mph gust, and Logan had a gust of 68 mph in the late morning.
Overnight tonight, skies will partially clear as temperatures fall down toward 20 degrees. Tomorrow will features sunshine with readings back near freezing. Don’t forget your sunglasses — with all the fresh snow cover, it’s going to be very bright, and with the high sun angle this time of the year, it’s even brighter.
Another week weather system approaches for Wednesday with some rain or snow. If it is snow it’s just a coating to a couple of inches not a big system. It’s colder than average thereafter for a few days but the weekend is looking dry and a bit milder.
With all the snow on the ground it is going to take a little while to melt. I think you’ll really notice a big difference as we head into the second week of March but the first week is definitely going to look a lot like midwinter.
