Live updates: Boston's historic snowstorm

GBH News is following the snowstorm that began overnight Friday into Saturday. Boston, Worcester, Brockton and other cities across the region have declared snow emergencies, travel restrictions are in place for major roadways and officals have asked everyone not to venture out unless necessary. We will share updates as the storm continues.

Follow our live coverage below, or check the National Weather Service for warnings in your region.

POSTED SUNDAY, 8:39 PM

All told, the greater Boston area received 20-30" of snow throughout Winter Storm Kenan. GBH News surveyed the storm's aftermath with drone footage by Harvard Stadium in Boston's Allston neighborhood Sunday afternoon.

POSTED SUNDAY, 8:19 PM

GBH News’ Eve Zuckoff reports:

Cape Cod officials and experts are still assessing how hard the coast was hit by the weekend’s winter storm.

Town officials are closely monitoring what damage can be observed, making it a priority to clear the roads and restore power to residents. Across the Cape and islands, power lines are still damaged, trees are still down and roads are still icy.

But in terms of storm damage, Sandwich’s Director of Natural Resources Dave DeConto says the region may have dodged a bullet.

“In one way, we're very lucky because we had the October nor'easter and a lot of our tree limbs and susceptible trees all came down already,” he said. “So, you know, if we hadn't had that and we had had the buildup, this would have been right there with the big storms in ’13, ’15 and ’17.”

DeConto says he’s concerned some homes on Spring Hill Beach still could be undermined by catastrophic erosion over the coming days.

Barnstable County coastal specialist Greg Berman said Sunday morning he’s seen significant erosion damage on the Upper Cape.

“Any kind of gains over the last quieter periods where we may have gotten some dune accumulation — wiped away,” he said. “So we've got fairly sheer faces on the dunes, like straight up and down vertical.”

And Sandwich isn’t alone: erosion is underway in a number of other Cape towns. Photos of a home on Ballston Beach reveal major damage to a dune.

Despite flooding and erosion from the storm, conservation managers on the Cape report beachfront homes and buildings remain largely intact. Still, DeConto said, it’ll be days before conservation agents can fully assess the storm’s damage.

The Cape also suffered Massachusetts’ most widespread power outages. As of 6:15 p.m. Sunday, 86% of Chatham residents were still without power, according to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.

With roughly 2,000 people still without power in Sandwich, DeConto pointed to a warming center opened at the Council on Aging where people could get a hot beverage and food.

DeConto doesn’t anticipate the blizzard’s cost will be immensely high, or that his town of Sandwich will see much structural damage.

“Where the cost is going to be: in all the overtime, and the plowing and all those different things that we have to deal with when you have a storm,” he said. “We were pretty well prepared for this storm as far as town infrastructure goes.”

“I mean, it's certainly not a Hurricane Sandy. It's also not even close to some of the strong winter storms we got back in 2018,” Berman added. “So I mean, this is certainly a moderate storm, but not to the degree of some of the other ones we've seen lately."

POSTED SUNDAY, 4:29 PM

GBH News’ Esteban Bustillos reports:

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu encouraged residents to pitch in and help keep sidewalks safe while the city clears the streets, speaking at a press conference Sunday with Chief of Streets Jascha Franklin-Hodge and City Council President Ed Flynn.

The mayor asked that residents to do their part to remove snow, but, she urged, don’t clear snow in a way that makes more work for city employees.
“It will make our city crew’s lives a lot, lot easier if, as you’re shoveling, do not shovel back into the street,” she said. “It is incredibly frustrating to clear the roads again and again and then to have some of it come from folks who are shoveling sidewalks into the street. So throw it the other direction.”

Bostonians will have until Monday at 8 a.m. to remove cars from discounted garages before they start getting charged regular rates, and until Wednesday at 6 a.m. to remove space savers.

Chief of Streets Franklin-Hodge said that, as much work has already been done to respond to the storm, there’s more to do. He said it will take some time for things to get fully back to normal.

Boston City TV

“The primary goal today is to widen the areas on roadways that are cleared,” Franklin-Hodge said Sunday. “Both for roads and our bike lanes, our goal is to push the snow as close back to the edge of the curb as we can, but that takes time, it takes multiple passes, so that’s really been the focus today.”

Franklin-Hodge said the city is coordinating its snow removal efforts with the MBTA to make sure that the buses can continue to run reliably, but he’s encouraging anyone using public transportation or driving to factor in extra time to get where they need to go.

POSTED SUNDAY, 3:26 PM

Ethan Connolly, who grew up in Norfolk and now lives in Wrentham, came out Sunday to get outside and get some sun.

“I’m snowshoeing. I’m out here for a sense of adventure because I don’t like sitting in my house,” he told GBH News Sunday. “I prefer the snow to be about 200 miles north, but that’s okay.”

Walkers wore paths through the snow on the Boston Commons by early Sunday afternoon.

Meghan Smith / GBH News

Ethan Connolly took to the snow in Norfolk Sunday.

Marilyn Schairer / GBH News

Tiny snow ducklings sit atop mother duckling in the Public Garden Sunday.

Meghan Smith / GBH News

The treacherous weather didn't stop some from going out and trying to sled Saturday afternoon.

Phillip Martin / GBH News

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POSTED SUNDAY, 2:57 PM

GBH News’ Esteban Bustillos reports:

After one of the biggest blizzards in city history, Boston officials are confident that the city will be able to move forward this week after nearly two feet of snow fell on the city.

Boston’s snow emergency will end at 6 a.m. Monday and public schools will be open Monday morning, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said at a press conference Sunday with Chief of Streets Jascha Franklin-Hodge and City Council President Ed Flynn.

While the city is working on clearing roads, Wu is urging residents to help keep sidewalks safe.

“We really need everyone’s help to dig out the sidewalk in front of your home and in front of your property, especially so that our young people can access bus stops, walk to school and anyone who is walking around, pedestrians, especially those in a wheelchair or motorized scooter, can get around,” she said.

The blizzard left 23.8 inches of snow over the city, the mayor said, making it the second-biggest January storm in Boston history, the seventh biggest in the city’s history overall and it ties the record for the largest single-day snowfall. [ Check back for further updates.]

POSTED SUNDAY, 10:14 AM

GBH News' Ellen London reports:

It was a snowy scene in Boston's Charlestown neighborhood on Sunday morning after Winter Storm Kenan receded and the sun came out. Clean-up has begun around the city and state and is expected to continue into Monday.

Cars parked along Henley Street in Charlestown, Mass. are barely visible beneath a blanket of snow. Jan. 30, 2022.

Ellen London / GBH News

The Bunker Hill Monument rises above snow covered cars at the top of Monument Ave. in Charlestown, Mass. Jan. 30, 2022.

Ellen London / GBH News

Boats float in icy waters at the slips along Constitution Wharf in Charlestown, Mass. Jan. 30, 2022.

Ellen London / GBH News

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POSTED SATURDAY, 7:06 PM

GBH News’ Ellen London reports:

Gov. Charlie Baker warned Saturday that persistent snowfall and snow-packed roads will continue to make travel throughout Massachusetts “extremely hazardous” Saturday night and into Sunday morning.

The storm is expected to recede around 11 p.m. Saturday night, slowing first in eastern Massachusetts, Baker said in a 5 p.m. press conference with public officials. But, he said, the blowing snow and strong wind gusts are going to cause “continued whiteout conditions.” He expected it would take until “at least mid-morning” on Sunday for roads to be in better condition for travel.

The high winds, expected to last through Sunday morning, could also impact how quickly workers can restore power to those without it. As of 6:45 p.m., there were around 100,000 households in Massachusetts without power, according to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.

“Those high winds are expected to continue pretty much all night, which will have some impact on how fast people can get around to getting out into the bucket trucks to deal with some of the power outages,” Baker said.

MassDOT still had around 3,000 pieces of snow removal equipment in use at the time of the press conference, Baker said. While the crews have been out clearing roads all day, he noted that “the conditions are making it really difficult to keep the roads clear for any significant period of time.”

The governor added that public officials will continue to ask people to stay off the roads “unless you absolutely need to” through Sunday morning as much as possible.

“For the most part, people have done a great job at staying home and off the roads,” he said.

The storm’s strong winds and heavy snowfall — falling at a rate of two to four inches per hour in many parts of the state — hit the region’s coastal, eastern and southeastern communities particularly hard, Baker said. Some communities in the southeast could see a total of as much as 30 inches of snow, while Boston and other coastal communities could see closer to 24 inches.

Despite the hazardous conditions, the governor said that the storm “is delivering pretty much what we all expected and the experts predicted.”

POSTED SATURDAY, 5:10 PM

GBH News' Matt Baskin reports:

The city's most vulnerable populations remain at particular risk amid Saturday’s nor’easter and the days that follow.

People experiencing homelessness crowded into local shelters ahead of Saturday's storm, putting Boston’s largest shelter, the Pine Street Inn, at capacity. Barbara Trevisan, a leader with the inn, said that prompted workers at the inn to improvise.

“We created some of what we would call ‘warming centers’ in our dining room and in our one of our lobbies,” said Trevisan. “We did not have beds for everyone, but we certainly didn't turn anyone away.”

Trevisan said that Pine Street Inn workers have been canvassing Boston’s streets, offering shelter to anyone still outside as the nor’easter approached. Some declined.

“There is a small segment of people who are resistant to coming in, no matter what,” said Trevisan. “If somebody is really in extreme distress, we will work with emergency services in the city to make sure they come in, whether it’s to Pine Street or sometimes to the hospital.”

The storm's aftermath could cause additional problems for another vulnerable population: people with disabilities. With a quick cleanup not assured, advocates like attorney Thomas Murphy with the Disability Law Center are worried that people's mobility could be seriously hindered.

“The difficulty that's posed for people with disabilities is that if a sidewalk or curb ramp isn't cleared within a reasonable period of time after the end of a snowstorm, then they're not going to be able to get around,” said Murphy. “It's as simple as that.”

Murphy said that municipalities, businesses, and property owners are more attentive than they used to be when it comes to promptly clearing snow.

“That hasn’t always been the case historically,” said Murphy. “And unfortunately, some towns probably do a better job than others."

POSTED SATURDAY, 3:52 PM

Three skiers hit the slopes of Irving Street in Boston's Beacon Hill neighborhood as snow continues to accumulate throughout the city and state.

GBH News' Meghan Smith was there:

A short while later, over on Boston Common, sledders and snowboarders gathered for some fun in the park.

POSTED SATURDAY, 3:36 PM

As if there wasn't already enough for New Englanders to bond about today... reports from ESPN say Tom Brady is retiring from football.

POSTED SATURDAY, 3:29 PM

GBH News' Hannah Reale Reports:

Boston officials say intense snow and winds make it a challenge to fight back against the precipitation.

The city’s Chief of Streets Jascha Franklin-Hodge asks for patience and that people stay off the roads as Boston workers clear them. The city deployed its full snow removal force of nearly 1,000 pieces of equipment such as plows beginning in the wee hours of the morning, but Franklin-Hodge said that the storm’s intensity makes that a difficult job.

“When it comes to a storm this big and this fast, it's not even about the number of plows … you're really doing your best to just keep scraping,” Franklin-Hodge said Saturday afternoon.

When, exactly, Boston catches up is at the whims of the storm.

“With the high winds, we're seeing a lot of blowing and drifting,” he said. “So we can clear a street, and even if the snow has actually died down, we may see the snow come back if it blows off the sidewalk.”

“The timing is really down to Mother Nature,” he added. Current predictions show the storm winding down in Boston around 9 p.m.

For everyone’s safety, he asks that people stay out of their cars — and help their neighbors clear the snow when it lets up.

“If you absolutely have to travel, we encourage people to use public transportation,” Franklin-Hodge said. “I've been on the train and the bus myself today, and they are working incredibly well considering the circumstances." Franklin-Hodge points to “good public transportation options available that are safe, that helps keep cars out of the way of the plow and allows us to do our jobs.”

“The city’s going to do our part," he added. "And we're really grateful for the residents and businesses who are doing theirs.”

POSTED SATURDAY, 3:01 PM

GBH News’ Matt Baskin reports:

Strong winds and furious snowfall continue to hit Massachusetts Saturday afternoon.

Cape Cod is seeing wind gusts of up to 80 miles per hour, with 40 to 50 mile per hour gusts on the South Shore, according to National Weather Service meterologist Rob Mengia. The heaviest snowfall has been south of Boston, with whiteout conditions and snow coming down at a rate of two to three inches per hour.

Mengia said the snow would likely continue for several more hours before tapering off in the evening.

“We are in the heart of it right now,” Mengia said Saturday afternoon.

Coastal communities like Scituate were particularly worried ahead of Saturday’s storm, anticipating tough conditions and the flooding that’s come with previous nor’easters.

Town administrator James Boudreau said that, so far, it’s been a difficult day. “We’re still seeing very heavy snow blowing, drifting,” said Boudreau. “Visibility is poor at best right now, so it’s very challenging for our crews to keep up.”

But Boudreau said that flooding during the morning’s high tide was minimal, and he’s hoping the evening high tide will be similar.

In Newburyport, on the North Shore, Mayor Sean Reardon said many residents have evacuated homes on Plum Island, an area that’s particularly vulnerable to flooding.

“We went door to door yesterday,” said Reardon. “The majority of them decided to leave. There are definitely a handful of people that live there year-round that decided to stay that are right in the thick of it. I’m in good conversations with them today about the conditions out there. I’m keeping tabs on them.”

Reardon and Scituate’s Boudreau said they’re encouraged by the fact that people in Newburyport have largely stayed off the roads.

“You shouldn’t be out gawking. Travel conditions are treacherous,” Boudreau said. “Stay home. Let us do our jobs.”

POSTED SATURDAY, 2:01 PM

GBH News’ Matt Baskin reports from Somerville.

Most people are hunkering down indoors, but some Somerville businesses are open in spite of the nor’easter, their workers braving the storm.

At McKinnon’s Meat Market in Davis Square, clerk Stephen DiPalma said he’d served about a dozen customers since opening. He had no complaints about working during the snow.

“It’s been a nice, easy day,” said DiPalma. Friday was the difficult day, when people crowded into the market with bigger orders.

Matt Baskin GBH News

“They were getting a lot of bulk things, a lot of big things,” said DiPalma. “Today, it’s just small things to facilitate what they need for the day.”

Next door, at Sligo Pub, owner Kelly Melin said that keeping the taps flowing in inclement weather is something of a family tradition.

“We pretty much stay open no matter what,” said Melin. “My dad had a different pub in the Blizzard of ’78, and he made his way over to open it up. You open when you can. [It’s] that hardworking, immigrant ethic.”

Melin said her bartenders are mostly local, and were willing to work despite the storm. As of noon Saturday, Sligo hadn’t seen ay customers, but Melin was hopeful. “It’s a good day to drink.”

POSTED SATURDAY, 1:47 PM

CAI's Eve Zuckoff reports from Woods Hole:

Flooding and erosion are hitting Massachusetts’ coastal communities as the storm tears through the Northeast.

By mid-morning, officials in Chatham said low-lying areas were getting hit hard.

“We have significant flooding at the fish pier and east-facing beaches and town landings,” said Chatham harbormaster Stewart Smith. “We have some pretty good erosion taking place from what we can see.”

On Nantucket, large parts of Easy Street and Washington Street were inundated by early Saturday. Additional flooding was reported everywhere from the Town Neck Beach area in Sandwich to downtown Edgartown on Martha’s Vineyard.

The storm’s wind and waves created higher-than-typical water levels for Boston’s coastline. The first high tide of the day for Cape Cod Bay was around 8:13 a.m. and was predicted to be 11 feet, about a foot higher than the average high tide. But Greg Berman, a coastal processes specialist with Woods Hole Sea Grant and the Cape Cod Cooperative Extension, says it saw a two-and-a-half-foot surge on top of that in many areas.

“Just for comparison sake ... Hurricane Sandy had about a four-and-a-half-foot surge. and some of the fairly strong other winter storms, like back in 2018, had about a four-and-a-half-foot surge,” Berman said.

Smith, the Chatham harbormaster, warned that the next high tide, around 9 p.m., could bring additional flooding.

“You know with these types of storms, it’s likely the tide won’t go out very much so the next tide cycle is going to be interesting,” he said.

The low pressure and high winds, which have been recorded at up to 70 miles per hour in some parts of the region, don’t allow the tide to escape harbors, inlets and bays.

Winds will “push water up into the bay and not allow water to come out of the bay,” Berman explained. “So you get the tides kind of stacking up on each other.”

Whether the water can escape will depend on how long the winds push water up against the shoreline. Either way, conservation managers across the region say erosion is surely underway and likely the worst of it came this morning. The only question is how much of the coastline will be gone when the storm passes.

POSTED SATURDAY, 12:50 PM

GBH News' Sam Turken reports from Worcester:

Worcester officials say whiteout conditions are making it difficult to keep roads clear as Winter Storm Kenan moves through Massachusetts.

Worcester is in a snow emergency, and aside from plow trucks and emergency vehicles, all travel is banned until further notice. The Worcester Regional Transportation Authority has also suspended all bus and van services.

More then 350 plows, spreaders and other equipment have been treating roads since early Saturday morning, city officials said. But the snow is coming down quickly and wind gusts are reaching above 35 miles an hour, making driving dangerous.

“We can plow a road and come back an hour later and find that the wind has blown the snow back into it and now it’s relatively unpassable,” Worcester Commissioner of Public Works and Parks Jay Fink told GBH News. “Visibility is just horrendous.”

Fink said the city has towed about 400 cars that violated a declared winter parking ban. There have been seven accidents since the start of the storm, but Fink added people appear to be largely adhering to the travel ban.

“There’s very few cars that are out there,” he said.

Fink said he expects the strongest winds and snowfall to continue into the afternoon before tapering off. Once streets are plowed, public works crews will continue treating roads into Sunday to prevent them from icing.

The National Weather Service predicts up to two feet of snow in Central Massachusetts by the time the storm moves out of the region Sunday morning. The weather system will also leave behind frigid temperatures with wind chills below 0 degrees Fahrenheit Sunday and Monday.

To protect people from the storm, Worcester outreach workers went around the city Friday offering to bring people living on streets and in tents to shelters. Worcester Commissioner for Health and Human Services Matilda Castil told GBH News most people accepted the offer or said they had places to get shelter. Those who went with city workers all tested negative for COVID-19 before entering shelters in an effort to stem to spread of infection.

“People cannot be outside in those conditions,” Castil said.

POSTED SATURDAY, 11:37 AM

From Salisbury to South Station and points in between, wind whipped snow is still the order of the day in Massachusetts. GBH News' Greg Shea captured high tide at North End Boulevard in Salisbury this morning:

POSTED SATURDAY, 11:10 AM

It has been snowing all morning but the heaviest weather appears to still be ahead of us. Updated maps from the National Weather Service show blizzard warnings all along the coast from New London Connecticut to Portsmouth, N.H., with warnings extended until past midnight in some areas. Some places were expected to receive as much as 3-4 inches of snow per hour. By 11 a.m. MEMA was reporting nearly 120,000 people had lost power.

GBH's Matt Baskin reports that Boston South Station became a refuge Saturday morning for anxious passengers and homeless seeking shelter, but as mid morning, trains appeared to be more-or-less running on time. [Read more.]

Matt Baskin/GBH News GBH News

POSTED SATURDAY, 9:25 AM

More than 100,000 people have lost power in Southeastern Massachusetts Saturday morning, with the heaviest concentration in New Bedford, where more than 28,000 customers have outages, according to the Massachuestts Emergency Management Agency.

Screen shot GBH News

Travel during the storm is becoming impossible. An ever-growing list of arriving and departing flights at Logan Airport have been cancelled; MassDOT is reporting road closures due to flooding in Quincy, Edgartown and Tisbury.

POSTED SATURDAY, 8:15 AM

There are still only a couple of inches of snow in downtown Boston, but the city and region are hunkering down for much more. Early Saturday morning the Mass. Department of Transportation set a 40 mph speed limit on I-90 and barred tractor trailers and other large vehicles from all interstates.

The National Weather Service issued coastal flood warnings for Saturday, with "as much as two ft of inundation above ground level expected for coastal roads in eastern MA, Cape Cod and the Islands."

Storm intensity is expected to peak around midday, with forecasters suggesting Boston and surrounding areas could see between 1 and 2 feet of snow.

POSTED FRIDAY, 8:10PM

GBH News reporter Sarah Betancourt filled us in earlier today on Boston's biggest snowstorms, and out in the field this evening she's finding that residents are certainly cleaning out the shelves:

POSTED FRIDAY, 6:44PM
The big question: When does the snow start, and when is it going to really get bad?

National Weather Service meteorologist Alan Dunham shared the latest forecast with Arun Rath on GBH's All Things Considered. He said Greater Boston can expect snow to begin around 8 or 9 p.m., but the heaviest snow will occur between the hours of 5 a.m. and 5 p.m. Saturday. Wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour will result in whiteout conditions.

Dunham's advice: prepare for power outages, stock up on water if you rely on a well, and don't leave home Saturday unless it's an absolute emergency. [ Read more.]

POSTED FRIDAY, 5:40PM

The city of Worcester has declared a snow emergency as officials prepare for more than a foot of snow and strong winds from the approaching nor’easter.

A travel ban will start at 11 p.m. and a winter parking ban will be in effect Saturday. Municipal garages will be free of charge until the snow emergency is canceled.

Although more than 300 plows and trucks will be clearing roads throughout the storm, Worcester Commissioner of Public Works and Parks Jay Fink said conditions could be too hazardous for driving.

“Here in New England, we all think we’re hearty and we all have SUVs so we can get where we want to go,” he said. “But the roads will be in rough shape.”

People who are homeless could be especially vulnerable during the storm. Therefore, Worcester outreach workers are going around the city offering to bring anybody living in tents or on streets to shelters. Worcester’s Commissioner for Health and Human Services Matilda Castile said many people are either accepting the assistance or telling health workers they plan on temporarily staying at friends’ homes.

“If there are more beds needed, we’re trying to open up an overflow shelter,” Castile said. “Two feet of snow is not where anybody should be outside.”

To avoid spreading COVID-19, Castille said outreach workers are giving people rapid tests before bringing them to shelters. Anybody who tests positive can go to a designated hotel free of charge.

— Sam Turken

POSTED FRIDAY, 4:42PM

Perhaps you've seen it on Twitter. You've certainly felt its effects at the grocery store the night before a storm. We bring you a brief but delicious history of Boston's tastiest storm rating system: The French Toast Alert System.

Boston snow video by Denis Tangney, Jr. via Getty Images. Screenshot from Universal Hub. Illustration by Lisa Williams Getty Images

POSTED FRIDAY, 4:22PM

Sure, it looks like it will be big. But will it beat the blowout Blizzard of 1978, which immobilized the state for most of a week?

POSTED FRIDAY, 1:02PM
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has declared the city's first snow emergency of the year. It goes into effect at 9 p.m.

In announcing the emergency, Wu urged residents to avoid traveling during the storm.

"This blizzard will make road conditions very dangerous during the storm for parking and for driving, so the safest place to be is in your home or in your apartment. If you must travel, please bundle up and dress warmly, and take the T if at all possible." [ Read more.]

POSTED FRIDAY, 11:17AM
Boston and the entire eastern third of the commonwealth are under a blizzard warning from midnight to 5 a.m. Sunday with snowfall rates predicted of 2 to 4 inches per hour possible and wind gusts as high as 70 miles per hour. The conditions will cause reduced visibility and near-whiteout conditions, making travel dangerous. Total snowfall is expected to be 18 to 24 inches.

In central Massachusetts, a winter storm warning is in effect starting at midnight. Snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour are possible, along with wind gusts up to 45 miles per hour.