Bullet dodged

Predicted winter storm weakens

Published in the March 22, 2018 edition.

WAKEFIELD — Since last week, residents have monitored the weather forecast with consternation as meteorologists told us — to a man and woman — that we were going to get hammered by a fourth nor’easter in three weeks. The snow would pile up to as much as a foot, the winds would howl, snapped tree limbs would bring down power lines and we would be in for another miserable, back-breaking cleanup.

Never mind.

“I’d rather have this than the alternative,” DPW Director Rick Stinson said earlier today, as a light snow fell.

Predictions changed all day yesterday as the region braced for another winter storm. Around 11 last night, Stinson called Supt. of Schools
Dr. Kim Smith and told her conditions would be good enough for her not to worry about calling off school. It had yet to begin snowing and the forecast was significantly downgraded.

Stinson explained that his department was prepared to deal with what all the forecasters were saying. The National Weather Service, for example, called for a powerful storm packing heavy, wet snow and strong winds that was set to arrive Wednesday.

Wakefield’s DPW director said Tuesday that one forecast model had the Wakefield area getting between 5 and 9 inches of snow. According to this model, snow would start around 9 a.m. and be light until about 4 p.m., when it was expected to really ramp up and continue snowing until about 2 o’clock this afternoon. Wind gusts would reach 35 miles an hour.

The other model had Wakefield getting hit with 6 to 12 inches, and winds gusting up to 50 miles an hour.

“We went with what the forecasters told us, and they were all on the same page,” Stinson said today, happy that nothing close to a powerful winter storm materialized.

A sanding crew was kept on overnight, pre-treating streets yesterday. Snow finally began to fall about 4 o’clock this morning and began sticking to vehicles and some streets around 6 a.m.

The town ended up getting about an inch of snow, Stinson said.

Our area dodged a serious bullet and got a break after three March storms made it feel like winter would never end.

Other parts of the Northeast weren’t as lucky.

The latest nor’easter lost some punch as it rolled into New England on Thursday, as millions of others in the Northeast dug out from the storm that dumped more than a foot of snow in some places, knocked out power to tens of thousands of customers and had many wishing for more spring-like weather.

“We’re supposed to be getting ready for Easter, not a nor’easter,” said 46-year-old Raeme Dempsey, as her 6-year-old daughter, Jadalynn, pulled her toward a Philadelphia park so they could see the trees blanketed in freshly fallen snow.

Long Island took a hard hit, with Bay Shore and Patchogue leading the way with 19 inches of snow. While some parts of Pennsylvania saw more than a foot of snow, major cities along the Interstate 95 corridor saw much less. New York City’s Central Park recorded about 8 inches while downtown Philadelphia got 7.

The storm weakened a bit in the early hours of Thursday, and Boston expected to escape with just a few inches of snow before it tapered off Thursday afternoon. Along the Massachusetts coast, winds gusted to 40 mph (64 kph) and some towns dealt with flooding.

“It’s time to move on to another season,” said Pancho Ortega, who was clearing the sidewalk outside his soon-to-open restaurant in Philadelphia.

Airlines canceled more than 4,000 flights Wednesday, but airlines lumbered back into service throughout the Northeast on Thursday. On the ground, Amtrak scaled back service on the Northeast corridor between Washington and Boston, and continued a modified schedule Thursday. At least two traffic deaths were reported in New Jersey and on New York’s Long Island.

Patience wore thin as the fourth major storm in three weeks pounded the region.

“I want warm! I’m done with the cold,” said Yana Damoiseau, a pedestrian in New York City.

In New Jersey, some streets flooded along the shore, including one in Point Pleasant Beach where a pair of ducks cruised back and forth through an intersection where a plastic garbage can bobbed in the waves. The state’s major utilities reported slightly more than 75,000 customers without service early Thursday.

The storm also unloaded snow on Virginia and West Virginia as it pushed into the Northeast. Virginia reported more 240 traffic accidents.

But not everyone was sick of the snow.

In Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania, about 90 miles outside Philadelphia, 10-year-old siblings Talia and Miles Broadhurst made their own fun on yet another day off from school, climbing onto the family SUV and sliding down the snow-slicked windshield and hood before plopping onto the snow.

“If the snow keeps me away from school, I’m fine with it,” Miles said.

The latest nor’easter lost some punch as it rolled into New England on Thursday, as millions of others in the Northeast dug out from the storm that dumped more than a foot of snow in some places, knocked out power to tens of thousands of customers and had many wishing for more spring-like weather.

“We’re supposed to be getting ready for Easter, not a nor’easter,” said 46-year-old Raeme Dempsey, as her 6-year-old daughter, Jadalynn, pulled her toward a Philadelphia park so they could see the trees blanketed in freshly fallen snow.

Long Island took a hard hit, with Bay Shore and Patchogue leading the way with 19 inches of snow. While some parts of Pennsylvania saw more than a foot of snow, major cities along the Interstate 95 corridor saw much less. New York City’s Central Park recorded about 8 inches while downtown Philadelphia got 7.

The storm weakened a bit in the early hours of Thursday, and Boston expected to escape with just a few inches of snow before it tapered off Thursday afternoon. Along the Massachusetts coast, winds gusted to 40 mph (64 kph) and some towns dealt with flooding.

“It’s time to move on to another season,” said Pancho Ortega, who was clearing the sidewalk outside his soon-to-open restaurant in Philadelphia.

Airlines canceled more than 4,000 flights Wednesday, but airlines lumbered back into service throughout the Northeast on Thursday. On the ground, Amtrak scaled back service on the Northeast corridor between Washington and Boston, and continued a modified schedule Thursday. At least two traffic deaths were reported in New Jersey and on New York’s Long Island.

Patience wore thin as the fourth major storm in three weeks pounded the region.

“I want warm! I’m done with the cold,” said Yana Damoiseau, a pedestrian in New York City.

In New Jersey, some streets flooded along the shore, including one in Point Pleasant Beach where a pair of ducks cruised back and forth through an intersection where a plastic garbage can bobbed in the waves. The state’s major utilities reported slightly more than 75,000 customers without service early Thursday.

The storm also unloaded snow on Virginia and West Virginia as it pushed into the Northeast. Virginia reported more 240 traffic accidents.

But not everyone was sick of the snow.

In Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania, about 90 miles outside Philadelphia, 10-year-old siblings Talia and Miles Broadhurst made their own fun on yet another day off from school, climbing onto the family SUV and sliding down the snow-slicked windshield and hood before plopping onto the snow.

“If the snow keeps me away from school, I’m fine with it,” Miles said.

—
The Associated Press contributed to this report.