Baker urges residents to stay home and off the roads during storm; Walsh declares snow emergency in Boston
By Travis Andersen and Andrew Stanton Globe Staff and Globe Correspondent,Updated December 17, 2020, 2:48 a.m.
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A front end loader is checked over in front of a salt pile at the Boston Public Works yard on Frontage Road on Wednesday.John Tlumacki/Globe Staff
Snow swept across Massachusetts Wednesday night, reaching parts of Boston by 9:30 p.m., hours after Governor Charlie Baker and members of his leadership team urged Massachusetts residents to stay home if possible during the stormand directed non-emergency state employees not to go to work Thursday.
Fortunately for snow removal crews this time, many people have been working from home for months.
The timing of the storm, which is expected to start around 9 p.m. in western Massachusetts and 11 p.m. in eastern Massachusetts, coincides with the governor s COVID-19 stay-at-home advisory that asks people to be in their homes from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.
Baker said that by midnight snow could be accumulating one to two inches per hour, with most forecasts calling for 8 to 12 inches of snow, and potentially more in certain parts of the state. We have had a very mild fall. So we clearly haven t had to deal with something quite like this in quite some time and I think we should all remember we should respect this kind of weather, Baker said.
143,000 customers without power. that number has tripled in the past 90 minutes. that will likely go up with these wind gusts over 60 miles an hour. that s taking trees and limbs down over power lines. the wind is beginning to shift a little bit. now an east-northeasterly wind, blowing the snow sideways. the sea wall is keeping the water out of the street here on revere beach boulevard. long way to go. measuring two-foot drifts as the snow continues to come down. we get these winds up over 60 miles an hour. we ll likely have five, six-foot drifts before this wraps up later on saturday morning. a big storm. already tomorrow they ve canceled at least 240 flights at logan airport. another tough day to fly out of the northeast. although things will ramp back up, i think, in short to full service certainly by sunday midday. craig, that s the latest from revere beach. we ll be hunkered here all night and updating you from the weather channel. mike, do appreciate that.
stituet. two to three feet on top of the surge 20 to 22-foot waves. not here, we ve got protection, but down to the south, already a lot of residents of beachfront homes, left and headed to higher ground. evacuated yesterday. nothing mandatory, but local police said you might want to think about this and they know how things go down here. a lot of snow, a lot of drifting, but just about everybody stayed off the road. we have been out here all night long, the plows have been coming up and down revere beach boulevard. here comes one now around the circle. huge mound of snow. a lot of snow out here and three to four foot drifts, and they have been able to do their job all night long to keep these roads passable, and that will make the cleanup and the digout that much better. alex, once we get through high tide, the coastal issues go away
that number has tripled in the past 90 minutes. that will likely go up with these wind gusts over 60 miles an hour. that s taking trees and limbs down over power lines. the wind is beginning to shift a little bit. now an east-northeasterly wind, blowing the snow sideways. the sea wall is keeping the water out of the street here on revere beach boulevard. long way to go. measuring two-foot drifts as the snow continues to come down. we get these winds up over 60 miles an hour. we ll likely have five, six-foot drifts before this wraps up later on saturday morning. a big storm. already tomorrow they ve canceled at least 240 flights at logan airport. another tough day to fly out of the northeast. although things will ramp back up, i think, in short to full service certainly by sunday midday. craig, that s the latest from revere beach. we ll be hunkered here all night and updating you from the weather channel. mike, do appreciate that. stay safe, good sir.