New England to get brunt of snowstorm heading east

The National Weather Service has issued blizzard warnings from the south of Boston to the South Shore, while areas of eastern New England – including Boston, Hartford, and Providence – are under winter storm warnings.

BOSTON A winter storm was expected dump close a foot (30 cm) of snow on southern New England on Monday, closing schools and government offices, snarling travel and flooding low-lying coastal areas. The city’s schools were closed today, as were many other districts across Massachusetts, Rhode Island and CT.

“New York City is expecting two to four inches of snow with light snow through Wednesday, and we’re urging residents to prepare for snowfall and slippery roads this week”, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement. Massachusetts, Rhode Island and eastern CT, could see winter storm conditions with an accumulation of 4 to 8 in…

The brunt of a snowstorm heading for the east coast will fall on New England, say forecasters, just in time for the New Hampshire primary.

Combine that with high astronomical tides on Monday and widespread minor coastal flooding is likely along the MA coast south of Boston. Winter storm Mars has caused a pressure drop from 1004 millibars at 7 a.m. EST, Feb. 7 to 979 millibars at 1 a.m. Feb. 8, which is a drop of 25 millibars in 18 hours. Wind gusts have climbed to 60 miles per hour and the roads down by the lighthouse have been closed due to ocean water flooding the streets. In Connecticut, a bus carrying about 70 passengers from New York City to the Mohegan Sun casino crashed on a snowy Interstate 95 and fell on its side in Madison.

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The blizzard warning is scheduled to go into effect Monday at 4 a.m. and last until 7 p.m., according to the National Weather Service in Taunton.

Gov Baker ordered state offices closed in Barnstable, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Middlesex, Nantucket, Norfolk, Plymouth and Suffolk counties.

Bradley International Airport reported the cancellations of a handful of flights and numerous delays.

A Yale-New Haven Hospital spokesman says hospital officials were told to expect 30 patients, six of whom were listed in critical condition.