More than 2 feet of snow piled up in parts of New England Monday, breaking records set 37 years ago as forecasters warned still more winter weather was on the way.
MyFoxBoston.com reports that 60.8 inches of snow have fallen in Boston over the past 30 days, shattering the previous record of 58.8 inches set on Feb. 2, 1978.
Boston and areas south of the city were hardest hit, with the National Weather Service reporting unofficial measurements of 26.5 inches in Weymouth, 26 inches in Sharon and 24.9 inches in Norwell. Forecasters expected more than 20 inches on the ground in Boston before the storm winds down early Tuesday.
"You can't change it. The snow is there," said Helen Ferullo, a social worker in Weymouth. "You can't do anything about it."
Adding insult to injury, forecasters said more snow was expected Thursday and again next weekend, and the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency warned that potentially record-low temperatures and wind chills are expected later in the week.
As of late Monday, the fight tracking website FlightAware.com said that over 2,600 flights had been canceled that day, with 573 either originating from or heading to Boston's Logan Airport.
The hard-hit Boston transit system announced that all area subways, trolleys and commuter trains would shut down at 7pm Monday and remain idle Tuesday, with only limited bus service continuing. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) said the move was necessary to clear snow and ice from tracks and to assess damaged equipment.
The buildup of snow and ice on trolley tracks combined with aging equipment has stalled trains, delaying and angering commuters.Earlier Monday, the conditions made a MBTA train stall between stations in Quincy, just south of Boston. Nearly 50 commuters were rescued from the train. A frustrated Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker called the situation "unacceptable."
"This storm marks our third major snowstorm we have experienced in nearly two weeks," Baker said. He said it would cause "many challenges" for the state.
Amtrak canceled portions of its passenger train service linking upstate New York to New York City because of the storm. Hundreds of flights were canceled at Boston's Logan International Airport, Connecticut's Bradley International Airport and Maine's Portland International Jetport and Bangor International Airport.
The National Weather Service issued winter storm warnings for central New York, the western Catskills and much of New England through early Tuesday.
In New York, the snow stretched from Buffalo to the Hudson Valley, one day after 6 inches of snow fell on parts of the upstate region.
Across a broad swath of upstate New York, the weather service said as much as 9 to 18 inches of snow was expected from the Catskills to the southern Adirondacks by the time the storm moved out early Tuesday.
Local officials had announced Sunday that schools and municipal offices in many communities would be closed and that parking bans would be in effect. As accidents began to accumulate, drivers were warned to stay off the slick roads.
"I'm frustrated. The last thing I want to be talking about is another 24 inches of snow. I want to move on to something else," Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said at City Hall. "It's unprecedented ... Maybe up in Alaska or Buffalo, they have this amount of snow and they're used to it."
Walsh said the city would close schools Tuesday as well, and he urged motorists to stay off the roads until the storm passes. Court closings Monday meant another weather-related delay in jury selection in the Boston Marathon bombing trial and in the murder trial in Fall River of former NFL star Aaron Hernandez.
Carrie Sullivan, a manager at Uncle Charlie's Finer Diner in Weymouth, Mass., said she needed four men and a Jeep to dislodge her car from piles of snow in her driveway early Monday. When she finally got to work two hours later, the diner was filled with plow drivers and electric company crews.
"They were pretty much walking around like zombies. They've been working for 20 hours straight," she said.
"I think we'd all like to get a little bit back to normal," she said. "For now, we'll just keep bringing the coffee and the hot pancakes."
The snow is likely to cause problems for workweek commuters, though it wasn't expected to accumulate as rapidly as in earlier snowstorms, including a record-busting late January blizzard. It also posed little risk of the coastal flooding that last month's winter blasts brought.
In northwestern Pennsylvania, a winter weather advisory remains in effect until 1 a.m. Tuesday. Forecasters predict 2-5 inches of snow and up to a quarter-inch of ice accumulation from Bradford County to the Poconos.
In many New England communities, the obvious problem is where to put the new snowfall.
David Lombari, public works director for West Warwick, R.I., told The Associated Press that his town was already clogged with piles of snow several feet high and school buses were parked in the usual snow storage lot
"I don't know what we're going to do yet," Lombari said. "It's tough trying to find a place that meets all the proper (environmental) criteria."
Massachusetts environmental officials gave cities and towns the green light to dump accumulating snow into open water if necessary.
The Department of Environmental Protection on Monday cited the challenges involved in getting rid of the historic snowfalls. Local communities may seek permission to take emergency steps that allow disposal of snow in the ocean or other bodies of water, which is normally prohibited.
Officials also were using giant melters to liquefy snow.
The steady run of winter blasts has already sucked up more than 70 percent of New Hampshire's Department of Transportation winter maintenance budget. Rhode Island, too, said Monday's storm will use up what's left of its $14 million budget for snow removal and nearly the entire salt stockpile.
The small college town of Henniker, which lost its fleet of plows in a fire Jan. 30, was using plows on loan from the state. DOT spokesman Bill Boynton said the three back-up trucks would probably remain with the town throughout the winter.
While the snow is welcome at New England ski resorts, it's a headache for some businesses.
"I normally have 15 to 20 dogs for day care, but that's down to half a dozen; people can't get here," said Bruce Billings, owner of Canine College and Bow Wow Resort, a dog training, day care and boarding center in Holbrook, Mass., 10 miles south of Boston.
Billings said he's trying to clear outdoor play areas with a snow blower because only the biggest dogs can frolic through snow that's 2 to 3 feet deep.
But not everyone was dreading the next blast of winter.
Business was brisk at Charles Street Supply hardware in Boston, where owner Jack Gurnon sells shovels, salt and sleds. He drove to Portland, Maine, to stock up so he'd be able to meet demand when the storm hits full force.
"We actually have a lot of supply right now, and we're lucky because the big box stores, they're scrambling around, and I'm sitting on a whole bunch right now," Gurnon told the AP.
But an increase in sales isn't all he is looking forward to. "I also love to ski, so as soon as this next mess is over with, I'm taking off and going north," he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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