A few more hours before this top 10 biggest snowstorm comes to an end
Saturday's long-duration nor'easter has officially been declared a blizzard by the National Weather Service.
"Blizzard conditions were reached at several locations across Rhode Island and eastern Massachusetts," the NWS said.
Blizzard status was reached in Boston, Worcester, Beverly, Hyannis, Marshfield and Martha's Vineyard, the NWS said.
It is the first official blizzard in Boston since March 13, 2018.
The official definition of a blizzard is that falling and or blowing snow reduces visibility to less than 1/4 mile along with winds that frequently gust to 35 mph or higher. These blizzard conditions must be the predominantly reported condition for at least three consecutive hours, the NWS said.
Heavy snow and winds gusting to hurricane-force were beginning to subside in eastern Massachusetts Saturday evening as a powerful nor'easter pulls away from the coast.
"What we're going to see in the next few hours is dry air punching into the storm," Chief Meteorologist Harvey Leonard said. "We still have the same areas that have the highest snowfall amounts getting the heaviest snow, and it still is snowing."
Bands of heavy snow delivering snowfall rates of 2 to 3 inches per hour remained over parts of eastern Massachusetts.
Leonard said the South Shore was probably the area that's going to wind up with the highest snow amounts when the storm ends.
At the official weather station in Boston, located at Logan Airport, just shy of two feet of snow was measured as of 7:30 p.m., said Leonard.
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"How would that size up? Well, it wouldn't make the top 5 for Boston, unless there's another inch-plus that falls before this is all over. But it would come in somewhere around eighth place," Leonard said. "It is guaranteed to be at least, minimally, a top 10 all-time snowstorm for Boston."
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More than 100K power outages were reported at the height of the storm, as wind gusts to nearly 90 mph battered the eastern Massachusetts coastline.
A snow emergency remained in effect in the city of Boston.
An additional concern along the coast is the wind combined with an astronomically high tide.
“We’re already seeing the wave heights building to 12 feet, moving toward the coastline of the South Shore,” StormTeam 5 Meteorologist Kelly Ann Cicalese said. “That is why there has been an upgrade to some of our advisories. A coastal flood warning is in effect and continues through the late morning.”
“The strength of the storm will be during low tide, however, we will likely see some additional surge with the high tide this evening,” Cicalese said.