Published: February 8,2015
Winter Storm Marcus is expected to be a slow, plodding storm that will hang around New England for days, hitting many of the same areas that were left with feet of snow from a couple of storms that shut down the area over the last few weeks. Winter started slowly in the Northeast, but a relentless pattern has taken its toll on school and business closures, as well as road crews and transportation officials.
"I have to laugh because otherwise I may cry," said Dracut, Massachusetts, resident Michelle Currie, in a report by The Associated Press.
(MORE: Check the Latest Winter Storm Marcus Forecast)
Not only will the area have to endure snowflakes flying, but it's also the amount of additional snowfall that's expected to accumulate from Marcus that's irking New Englanders.
"Winter Storm Marcus is piling on to what has already been a very snowy 2 weeks in New England," said weather.com meteorologist Chris Dolce. "Widespread snow totals of more than a foot are expected, with some areas in Massachusetts picking up around 20 inches. The snow isn't going to melt anytime soon either, since the coldest air of the season is expected late in the week ahead."
More than 3 inches of snow had already fallen Sunday morning in Boston, and the storm was just beginning to reach the area with a few initial bands. Dozens of flights were canceled Sunday at Boston Logan International Airport, according to the flight-tracking website FlightAware.
Due to Marcus, Delta Airlines issued a travel waiver for 15 airports in the Northeast and New England, giving travelers the chance to change their flight itinerary without paying a fee.
On the ground, officials were planning to staff up in preparation for Marcus. Because the storm is expected to be dumping heavy snow in many major cities during the Monday morning commute, pretreatment of roads and snow plows will need to be deployed en masse to keep roads relatively safe.
(MORE: Coldest Air of the Season To Arrive Behind Marcus)
Another reality some towns are realizing is that they're running out of places to store the snow that's been removed from roadways. West Warwick, Rhode Island, is one of those towns, as public works director David Lombari told the Providence Journal school buses are parked in the usual snow storage lot and snow piles all over the town are already several feet tall.
"I don’t know what we’re going to do, yet," Lombari said in the report. "It’s tough trying to find a place that meets all the proper [environmental] criteria."
Road salt, unsurprisingly, is in high demand in New England. Some towns, like North Kingstown, Rhode Island, are placing orders for salt that can't be fulfilled, the Providence Journal report added. Two weeks ago, the town requested a 500-ton order and only received 67 tons.
To the north, Maine officials have been dealing with an increase in home fires as residents use any available heating source to keep warm from subzero temperatures, CentralMaine.com reported.
"There has been a rash of them lately. I’ve been here 22 years and [a firefighter in] central Maine for 28 years, and I don’t ever remember this many fires coming in a 10-day period," said Augusta fire chief Roger Audette in the CentralMaine.com report.
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