Boston close to seeing record season of snow
BOSTON – After cold and snow that set February records, southern New England entered March with another round that could push Boston over its 20-year-old snowfall record.
With 102 inches, Boston needs 5.7 more to break the 1995-96 record of 107.6.
Snowfall of 4 to 6 inches was expected by early today across the area, with up to 8 inches in southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Less snow is expected in northern Massachusetts and New York state, and on Cape Cod.
“We have come this far, we might as well break the record,” said William Babcock, National Weather Service meteorologist in the Taunton, Massachusetts office. “We have a couple of storms to push us over the record. Once that is done we won’t complain if we don’t get any more snow.”
The snow Sunday into today will be wetter than those earlier in the season, continuing the concern about potential roof collapses.
“If you have flat roofs, it is certainly going to add to the weight,” Babcock said.
Elsewhere, heavy snow was expected in the central Rockies and Great Basin and heavy rain was predicted in parts of the Southwest. Snow was falling from the Ohio Valley into the Northeast, with freezing rain in the Mid-Atlantic.
Record cold
February 2015 was one for the record books in the Northeast.
The Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University said Buffalo, Syracuse, Binghamton and Ithaca, New York, shivered through their coldest months ever.
The average temperature was 10.9 degrees in Buffalo, beating the 1934 record of 11.4. The monthly average was 9.0 in Syracuse, 12.2 in Binghamton and 10.2 in Ithaca.
February record lows were also set in Hartford, Connecticut, at 16.1; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania at 20.9; and Portland, Maine at 13.8.
Blizzard, avalanche warnings
Weather forecasters in Colorado issued blizzard and avalanche warnings as Pacific moisture continued to bring snow and strong winds to the Continental Divide on Sunday. The storm was expected to last through today, with another storm expected Tuesday. The National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning for Wolf Creek Pass and the Colorado Avalanche Information Center issued avalanche warnings for the South San Juan, Sangre de Cristo and Gunnison areas. The avalanche danger in southern Colorado has been increased to high.
California storm
Crews worked to clean up a mudslide that shut down a stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway northwest of Los Angeles early Sunday. The area received between a quarter-inch to half an inch of rain overnight, the weather service said.