A winter storm is bringing heavy snow to parts of New England on Friday, prompting hundreds of school closings and parking bans across the region.
A winter storm is bringing heavy snow to parts of New England on Friday, prompting authorities in a least one Massachusetts community to advise residents to stay inside, hundreds of school closings and over 100,000 power outages across the region.
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More than 125,000 customers are currently without power in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island alone, with smaller numbers affected in the other New England states.
In Canton, Massachusetts, police warned residents to stay inside as trees and branches collapse from the weight of the wet, heavy, pasty snow, which is "creating an extremely dangerous situation."
A downed wire in that community caused flames to burst out through the snow.
The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning through 5 p.m. Friday for northern Rhode Island, much of Massachusetts, northeast Connecticut and parts of Maine and New Hampshire. It forecasts accumulation of 4 to 8 inches in those areas, with the highest totals near Interstate 95. Other parts of the states could see anywhere from 2 to 5 inches.
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Travel during Friday morning's commute was slow going, and dropping temperatures are expected to make for a slippery evening commute as well.
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation is urging people to take public transportation to unclog the highways so they can clear them. No major problems have been reported on the MBTA or any major highways.
Logan Airport reports that about 95 percent of its flights are still scheduled to operate. Most cancelled flights are to and from the New York area. Passengers are advised to check with their airline for flight status before coming to the airport.
