Blizzard Warning in Place for Cape Cod; Heavy Snow to Fall Through Early Evening

Snow MapHYANNIS – The Cape and Islands are taking the brunt of another round of winter weather, with a blizzard warning in place until early Monday evening.

Coastal flooding is also a concern at the time of high tide.

Daytime snow accumulation is expected to be in the 6 to 10 inch range for Barnstable County, with slightly higher amounts on the Upper Cape.

Southern Bristol and Southern Plymouth counties could also see higher snowfall totals, while accumulations will be less on Nantucket.

All public schools on Cape Cod were cancelled Monday in advance of the storm and most municipal activities and buildings were also closed.

The National Weather Service is advising that strong winds will likely result in widespread moderate coastal flooding along the east coast of Cape Cod and Nantucket during the high tide.

Eversource officials said the utility prepared for the weather and is ready to respond to outages when they develop.

PHOTO COURTESY: Barnstable Municipal Airport.

PHOTO COURTESY: Barnstable Municipal Airport.

“This is the type of storm that we are preparing for and expect damage to our system with the heavy, wet snow and very high winds. That always causes tree damage and we’re going to prepare to make sure that when that does happen, we have crews ready to roll,” said Eversource spokesman Mike Durand.

The company has several extra crews in the area in preparation for any major damage.

“All of our local crews and workers are redirecting their efforts to the storm, regardless of what their day to day jobs are. We also have crews with us now from other parts of our service area and are prepared to bring more in as necessary,” Durand said.

With forecasts calling for high winds and snow, National Grid, which provides power to Nantucket, said they had already seen small service interruptions on the island.

“National Grid will continuously monitor the storm and communicate with local officials, first responders and life support customers,” said Dan Bunzell, National Grid vice president of New England Operations. “Safety is National Grid’s number one priority, and the company urges customers to watch out for their own wellbeing and the safety of utility crews working during the storm.”

Gov. Charlie Baker ordered all state offices in Barnstable, Dukes, Nantucket, Plymouth, Bristol, Middlesex, Norfolk and Suffolk Counties closed Monday.

“This storm will create hazardous driving conditions in many parts of the state, particularly the South Shore, Cape and Islands, will experience blizzard conditions for most of the day and we urge all residents to refrain from travel unless absolutely necessary,” said Baker.

Non-emergency, executive branch employees living in those counties will not report to work Monday.

“State offices were closed to reduce traffic volume and allow out road crews to clear roads and sidewalks. We encourage employers to consider allowing employees to work from home is possible and ask folks to help clear the driveways and sidewalks in their communities and assist neighbors in need,” Baker said.

Parking bans are in place in Wareham, Dennis and Provincetown.

The Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority (CCRTA) has cancelled all of Monday’s DART service. Plymouth and Brockton bus service to Boston and Peter Pan bus service between Cape Cod and Boston and Providence has also been curtailed.

Air service between the Cape and Islands and Boston was cancelled early Monday. Cape Air said that due to the expected blizzard conditions, all flights south of Boston, including Cape Cod, New Bedford, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket would be cancelled until further notice. The airline said any fare changes would be waived as a result of the cancellations.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation said nearly 900 pieces of equipment were working on state roadways in District 5, which includes Cape Cod and much of Southeastern Massachusetts.

“This is going to be a long one. So even in some areas where you start to see the inch to two inch an hour snow start to wind down, our latest forecast shows that we’ll have some type of snow into the 8 o’clock hour in some locations, and maybe even to midnight,” said MassDot Highway Administrator Thomas Tinlin.

The Steamship Authority cancelled all service between the Cape and Islands, while the Hy-Line was operating on a boat-by-boat basis.

The Cape Mall closed at 1 p.m.

Just after 2 p.m. Yarmouthport was up to 9 inches of snow with 8 inches reported in Brewster and 7 in Bourne. On the Vineyard, Oak Bluffs had almost 9 inches of snow with 7 on Nantucket.

Cape Cod Hospital and Falmouth Hospital remain at full operations today. Cape Cod Healthcare is also keeping JML Care Center in Falmouth and Heritage at Falmouth open. All other Cape Cod Healthcare facilities are closed today, including physicians offices. All South Coast Health Systems hospitals in Wareham, New Bedford and Fall River also remain fully operational.

The Barnstable County Regional Emergency Planning Committee did not open the regional shelters on Cape Cod. The committee made the decision to stand down, citing the lack of power outages and the storm rolling out of the region this evening.

By MATT PITTA, MATT MCCARTHY, BRIAN MERCHANT and ADAM FORZIATI, CapeCod.com NewsCenter

 

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