Commuters brace for ‘rude slap in the face’ of snow, freezing rain

A double-whammy snowstorm sandwiching sleet and rain is delivering a “rude slap in the face” for commuters as they head back to work after the Thanksgiving holiday.

A shifting mix of snow — then freezing rain — and then snow again will torment Boston commuters until midday on Tuesday, said Bill Simpson, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Norton. Boston could see up to 6 inches of snow accumulation and western parts of the state could see a foot or more, he said.

“We’re looking at a three-phase system,” Simpson said of the storm that’s swept across the nation from west to east this week packing a punch of snow and ice that’s snarled holiday travel plans and delayed flights on one of the busiest travel weeks of the year.

Bob Larson, a meteorologist with AccuWeather, said people should expect “slushy, sloppy” commutes.

“It will be a rude slap in the face following the holiday weekend,” Larson said.

The first flakes of what forecasters predict to be Boston’s first major winter storm fell in Boston as the clock struck 3 p.m. but would turn to freezing rain by Monday morning — giving cities and towns time to clear the roads.

“In greater Boston, (Monday) morning’s commute shouldn’t be too bad … and there’s good potential for the Tuesday morning commute to be the most difficult one,” Simpson said.

Dozens of schools are closed in the western part of the state on Monday, but few east of Interstate 495. State offices will open as usual and Boston and other nearby cities did not declare snow emergencies.

Snowfall was predicted to taper down overnight ahead of the Monday morning commute, which Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack said would give her department “plenty of time to get the roads clear.”

Gov. Charlie Baker said the state’s snow-fighting equipment would be on “full display” for the duration of the storm — 3,900 pieces of state and vendor equipment that includes over 1,400 plow and spreader combos, another 2,100 plows and 460 front-end loaders.

“Please build in extra travel time [Monday] morning. Eastern Mass. may not see a lot of the accumulations, conditions could be slushy and messy,” Baker said.

Baker urged commuters to take advantage of public transportation to stay off of the roads whenever possible.

The MBTA and commuter rail schedules are expected to run on time on Monday, MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak said. He said crews would work overnight to keep tracks clear of snow and ice — two things that crippled the T during a spate of blizzards during the winter of 2015.

“The MBTA has had a significant amount of time to prepare for this storm, there’s a long-duration storm with some uncertainty attached with it … keep an eye on MBTA.com and our various social media feeds for additional information about any schedule or service impacts,” Poftak said.

As the storm picked up pace on Sunday evening, 115 flights were canceled and the flights still making it out of the airport were running 30 minutes behind on average. Nine flights were canceled already for Monday as of 6 p.m., according to a Massport spokeswoman.

Nationwide more than 500 Sunday flights were canceled in the U.S., compared with about 400 on Saturday, according to flight tracking site FlightAware.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2R6sdYd