A major blizzard is pounding the Northeast with heavy snow, damaging winds and blizzard conditions on Monday, Feb. 23.
The National Weather Service (NWS) in Boston/Norton reported that the worst impacts are concentrated south and east of the I‑95 corridor in Massachusetts.
Snowfall rates have reached 2 to 3 inches per hour this morning in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts, with total storm accumulations expected to reach 20 to 30 inches, and isolated reports possibly exceeding 30 inches. Temperatures in the region are hovering near freezing, creating heavy, wet snow that have created power outages all over the region.
Damaging winds are compounding the storm. Coastal areas, including Cape Cod and the Islands, have seen gusts of 65 to 75 mph, while gusts of 55 to 65 mph are reported in southern Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. The low-level jet responsible for the strongest winds is gradually shifting eastward, but blizzard conditions are expected to persist through the afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.
The storm is also producing significant coastal flooding. A storm surge of 2 to 3 feet during early-morning high tides has already prompted Coastal Flood Warnings from Plymouth County southward to Cape Cod and the Islands. Minor flooding is expected farther north toward Boston, where a Coastal Flood Advisory remains in effect.
The storm is expected to taper off from west to east Monday evening, with lighter snow lingering in some areas until about 10 p.m. Tuesday is forecast to be mostly clear, though another round of unsettled weather may bring precipitation mid- to late week.
Thundersnow reported in Massachusetts
Thundersnow has been reported in Scituate and Plymouth, Mass.
Thundersnow is essentially a winter thunderstorm, in which lightning and thunder occur during heavy snow instead of rain. It’s rare.
The Weather Channel’s Jim Cantore’s sighting of thundersnow in Plymouth had another rare quality: he spotted it in the same location 11 years ago. “We got it again, baby,” Cantore says on air.
Reporter Ted Wayman from WCVB, a media partner of The Patriot Ledger, describes the thunderstorm strikes as “majestic purple” while it was still dark out.
During the day, a thunderstrike will reflect off the snow and make the whole sky turn into a white flash.
What is ‘thundersnow’?
The atmosphere has to have a very specific setup to allow strong upward motion in very cold conditions.
To get it, you need strong lift to push air upward, plenty of moisture, colder air aloft and instability in the lower atmosphere so snow-filled clouds can build quickly, sister newspaper the Detroit Free Press previously reported.
A powerful coastal storm moving up the Mid-Atlantic is drawing heavy moisture from the Atlantic Ocean. At the same time, a trough over the eastern U.S. is sending disturbances eastward that interact with the coastal low, the Weather Prediction Center forecast states, adding lift to the atmosphere. This combination helps snow-filled clouds grow rapidly, which is one of the key ingredients for lightning in a snowstorm.
Colder air wrapping around the storm from the north and northwest adds instability in the lower atmosphere, giving the upward motion the extra push it needs. When strong lift, abundant moisture and cold, unstable air come together in the same place, the rare conditions for thundersnow can form.
See Massachusetts snow totals by town
Here’s a list of totals posted by the weather service:
- 24 in — 2 NE Bliss Corner
- 24 in — Swansea
- 21.5 in — 1 NE Foxborough
- 19 in — Rochester
- 18 in — 1 NE Somerset
- 17.2 in — 1 NE Berkley
- 15.5 in — 1 S Walpole
- 15 in — 2 SW Freetown
- 15 in — Andover
- 14 in — 4 W Barnstable
- 14 in — 3 NW Dighton
- 14 in — 1 SE Sharon
- 13 in — 2 W Hanover
- 12.5 in — 2 NW Milford
- 12 in — 1 W Yarmouth
- 12 in — 2 NW Norton
- 12 in — 2 E Holliston
- 11.5 in — 1 W Holden
- 11 in — 2 NW Dover
- 11 in — Worcester AP
- 10.5 in — 2 SW Westborough
- 10 in — Sandwich
- 10 in — 1 NW Worcester AP
- 10 in — 1 NW Whitinsville
- 9.3 in — 1 W Milford
- 8.8 in — 2 E Maynard
- 8.5 in — 1 S Cochituate
- 8.5 in — 1 NE Winchester
- 8.4 in — 1 NW Lexington
- 8 in — 1 N Wakefield
- 8 in — 1 SE Northborough
- 8 in — 3 SW Chicopee
- 7.5 in — Wilmington
- 7.5 in — 1 SE Danvers
- 7.5 in — Rockport
- 7 in — 2 SW Plaistow
- 6.9 in — 1 SW Lexington
- 6.8 in — Mashpee
- 6.5 in — 3 E Acton
- 6 in — 1 NE Dennis
- 6 in — 1 N Brewster
- 6 in — Harwich
- 6 in — 1 NNW Ashley Falls
- 5.5 in — Newburyport
- 5.3 in — 2 W Warren
- 5.2 in — 1 W North Amherst
- 4.8 in — 1 W Orange
- 4 in — 1 W Ipswich
- 4 in — Chatham
- 2.5 in — 1 NW Carlisle
- 1.3 in — Williamstown
Weather watches and warnings
Brandi D. Addison covers weather across the United States as the Weather Connect Reporter for the USA TODAY Network. She can be reached at baddison@gannett.com.
