The Bay State’s third winter nor’easter in less than three weeks is expected to be a howling storm that will create “brutal” commutes today with white-out conditions, dumping as much as 2 feet of snow, according to meteorologists and state officials who urged people to stay home, Boston Herald reported.
Winter Storm Skylar will blanket the entire state, Governor Charlie Baker said, with the eastern and central areas — including Boston — getting between 12 and 18 inches; up to 2 feet on the South Shore; and six to 12 inches in western Massachusetts. The snowfall will be heaviest during the morning commute, blowing in at 1 to 3 inches an hour with wind gusts up to 60 miles an hour creating white-out conditions.
“Much of the morning will be a really difficult time to drive,” Baker said, predicting “brutal driving conditions.”
“It’s going to be ferocious out there, it’s going to be nasty,” agreed Tom Kines, a senior meteorologist with Accuweather.
“It feels like we haven’t really seen this type of storm since 2015, we’re taking it very seriously,” Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh said, adding he was particularly concerned about the potential for fallen trees knocking out power. “In the last couple of storms, the snow and wind really made the roots vulnerable… we’ve probably had more trees go down this year than any other year.”
A winter weather advisory was issued for New York City as forecasters warned of up to four inches. Most New York schools had not yet announced whether they’d be closed Tuesday, Newsweek reported.
Schools in Rhode Island and New Jersey had also not yet announced closures. In addition to snow, forecasters warned of high winds brought by winter storm Skylar.
“Damage to trees and power lines are possible due to strong wind gusts,” the NWS said. “Be prepared for significant reductions in visibility at times.”
The storm was also expected to extend further north, bringing winter weather to Maine and New Hampshire. Further south, in West Virginia and North Carolina, snow had already begun to fall, creating dangerous travel conditions. In Kentucky and West Virginia, tens of thousands of homes lost power due to the storm.
Skylar was merely the latest storm expected to wallop the region, close on the heels of winter storm Quinn and winter storm Riley. Thousands of people remained without power in places like New Jersey and Massachusetts following the series of storms.
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