Winter weather warning for coastal areas in three states but storm expected to taper off by early Tuesday afternoon

This article is more than 9 months old

This article is more than 9 months old

The snowstorm that never seems to end rocked coastal New England at the height of the morning commute on Tuesday, prompting schools to close and causing air travel havoc.

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The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a winter storm warning for coastal areas of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine and a winter weather advisory for south-eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island, though the storm was expected to taper off by early afternoon.

The wintry weather moved into New England on Sunday night. But what seemed like one three-day storm was actually two storms, said Justin Arnott of the NWS in Gray, Maine.

“It’s complex from the standpoint that there’s been more than one low pressure system that has hit us in short succession. Normally we get a break – but not this time,” he said.

By Tuesday there had already been more than 2ft of snow in some areas of central Massachusetts, and 16in in Somers, Connecticut.

The Boston area had only about 4in of snow, but the weather made for a messy commute. A jack-knifed tractor-trailer on I-95 in Sharon blocked all southbound lanes, causing backups. The highway has since reopened.

In Massachusetts, Republican governor Charlie Baker urged people to work from home if possible and delayed the start of the work day for non-essential state employees by two hours.

In Maine, Democratic governor Janet Mills originally delayed the opening of state offices, then announced that they would be closed altogether because of the storm.

In New Jersey, Jersey Central Power and Light reported more than 36,000 homes and businesses were without electricity even as the storm moved out of the region.

In New York City, hundreds of Brooklyn households were without power because of outages caused by manhole fires overnight. A Consolidated Edison spokesman attributed the fires to snow-melting salt that can seep into the system and corrode wires.