An independent plow contractor clears a side street in Southwick as Winter Storm Linus roared through the area yesterday. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
BOSTON (AP) — Just a week after a blockbuster blizzard dropped up to 3 feet of snow in some part of Massachusetts, another winter storm dropped 1½ feet more in many areas yesterday.
Wind-blown snow started falling in the early morning hours and continued into the evening before winding down.
City schools were hit with a two-hour delay this morning after calling off school yesterday due to nearly a foot of snow that hit the greater Westfield area.
According to Mayor Daniel M. Knapik, the delay was a precautionary measure.
“There is too much snow to safely transport children and the school grounds need to be cleared, as well as sidewalks,” said Knapik this morning.
Director of Technology and Business Services Ronald Rix said that the district’s reasoning for the delay was similar to the delay ordered last Wednesday, which also succeeded a snow day last Tuesday.
“It was a little bit different. I was out till about 8 last night and a lot of the sidewalks weren’t done – they were still clearing some areas,” said Rix. “We just wanted to give more time to our walkers so they weren’t walking in the streets.”
Recently licensed student drivers were also a concern for the district.
“Everybody is going slow but the roads get narrow for our buses, too, after these big storms,” said Rix. “So it is tougher getting out of and onto main roads because the side streets are narrower.”
The deep freeze that fell upon greater Westfield last night also contributed to the decision to delay the start of the school day.
“It was single digits last night, around zero (degrees),” said Rix. “We were concerned about wind drifts and so we gave it some time to warm up. This storm ended later, so we were more concerned with getting everything ready.”
Rix credited the district’s maintenance and custodial crews for getting everything in order and keeping the city’s schools in good shape during the storm.
Westfield Emergency Management Director James Wiggs said that there were no power outages anywhere in the city. He also thanked the city’s Department of Public Works, who handled the storm with relative ease even without another travel ban like the one issued by Gov. Charlie Baker last week.
“Considering the rate that the snow was coming down, I think they did a spectacular job,” said Wiggs. “There was no driving ban, so they had to deal with more traffic than the previous storm but they were still able to go out and get the garbage picked up, streets were plowed, they were still working on it into the evening.”
Boston Mayor Martin Walsh, saying there was still too much snow removal ahead, canceled school for today and delayed a downtown Super Bowl parade for the New England Patriots until tomorrow.
“We look forward to celebrating with Patriots fans during better weather on Wednesday,” the mayor said.
Baker said last night that nonessential state agency workers were to report to their jobs at 11 a.m. today to allow more time for clearing roads. Yestarday, some people tried to make it to work early, jamming highways with slow-moving traffic but no major accidents were reported.
A man is barely visible behind a large pile of snow as he cleans his driveway this morning in Southwick. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
National Weather Service forecaster Bill Simpson said last night that snowfall approached 18 inches in the greater Boston area.
By early evening, Lunenburg in central Massachusetts had more than 20 inches and Ludlow 17 inches, according to unofficial snowfall totals reported by the National Weather Service. Lunenburg was one of a handful of Massachusetts communities that got 3 feet of snow during the last storm.
In southeastern Massachusetts and Cape Cod, where warmer temperatures brought sleet, rain, and slush, drivers were warned to watch for icy roads as temperatures dropped below freezing.
Arctic air is expected to follow the storm, with wind chills ranging from zero to minus 20 today.
In Weymouth, a woman died when she was struck by a plow in the parking lot of her condo complex, the Norfolk district attorney’s office said.
Dozens of flights in and out of Logan International Airport were canceled, although two runways remained open, and the New England Patriots and others made it home from the Super Bowl.
The good news was that power outages were minimal, according to the state Emergency Management Agency.
Not everyone was grumpy about having to shovel out again.
“It doesn’t bother me at all,” Tony Troc of Whitman said yesterday after clearing about 8 inches of snow from his driveway before moving on to a neighbor’s house. “If I didn’t like it, I’d be in Florida.”
