Reuters, Boston :
Biting cold and driving snow kept the US Northeast in the grip of another major winter storm on Sunday that made February the snowiest month in Boston’s history.
Blizzards forced the cancellation of more than 1,750 US passenger flights, most of them into and out of airports in Boston and New York, where gusts of up to 60 miles per hour (97 kph) were predicted.
The temperature at 1 pm in Boston was around 18 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 8 Celsius), but felt like zero (minus 18 Celsius) thanks to wind chill. By Monday morning, it was likely to feel like minus 20 (minus 29 Celsius).
Bruce Sullivan of the National Weather Service (NWS) said temperatures were 25 to 30 degrees below normal.
The storm was a fresh blow for retailers who were looking to the long Presidents’ Day weekend and Valentine’s Day to make up for sub-par sales during the last three lashings of snow.
Boston’s fourth major snowstorm in two weeks made February the city’s snowiest month since records began, the NWS said.
Boston had seen about 6 feet (1.8 meters) of snow since late January and had already set a record for the amount of snow in a single week.
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker urged drivers to stay home on Sunday and said he was relieved the President’s Day holiday on Monday would give keep traffic down and give more room to the snowplows.
Some Boston restaurants sought to coax customers out of hibernation for a meal or drink on Sunday evening, when the snow was expected to let up. One South Boston restaurant added the hashtag “#cabin fever” to its Twitter messages.
The area’s deepest snowfall on Sunday was the 20 inches (50 cm) recorded in Ipswich, Massachusetts, a coastal town northeast of Boston, said NWS meteorologist Benjamin Sipprell.
Biting cold and driving snow kept the US Northeast in the grip of another major winter storm on Sunday that made February the snowiest month in Boston’s history.
Blizzards forced the cancellation of more than 1,750 US passenger flights, most of them into and out of airports in Boston and New York, where gusts of up to 60 miles per hour (97 kph) were predicted.
The temperature at 1 pm in Boston was around 18 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 8 Celsius), but felt like zero (minus 18 Celsius) thanks to wind chill. By Monday morning, it was likely to feel like minus 20 (minus 29 Celsius).
Bruce Sullivan of the National Weather Service (NWS) said temperatures were 25 to 30 degrees below normal.
The storm was a fresh blow for retailers who were looking to the long Presidents’ Day weekend and Valentine’s Day to make up for sub-par sales during the last three lashings of snow.
Boston’s fourth major snowstorm in two weeks made February the city’s snowiest month since records began, the NWS said.
Boston had seen about 6 feet (1.8 meters) of snow since late January and had already set a record for the amount of snow in a single week.
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker urged drivers to stay home on Sunday and said he was relieved the President’s Day holiday on Monday would give keep traffic down and give more room to the snowplows.
Some Boston restaurants sought to coax customers out of hibernation for a meal or drink on Sunday evening, when the snow was expected to let up. One South Boston restaurant added the hashtag “#cabin fever” to its Twitter messages.
The area’s deepest snowfall on Sunday was the 20 inches (50 cm) recorded in Ipswich, Massachusetts, a coastal town northeast of Boston, said NWS meteorologist Benjamin Sipprell.
