Biggest Snowfall in Years Buries City
By Josh Resnek
Saturday’s snow storm, called a “bomb cyclone” by weather forecasters, dumped more than 2 feet of snow on New England – and even more in some places.
It was not the Blizzard of 1978. However the snowfall was substantial. It caused the public schools to be closed and for the most part, the city has come back to life but at a much slower pace.
Snow removal efforts will likely go on for much of the week.
Luckily for all of us, the snowfall was extremely fluffy and not dense and thick.
Everett’s first responders got through the storm without major incidents.
As the week began, temperatures remained icy cold, not rising much out of the teens.
Monday and Tuesday had high temperatures of 25 degrees.
A storm system picking up steam out west is expected to be the likely cause of another storm this weekend.
This remains to be seen.
In the meantime, efforts to clear all sidewalks, parking lots, school parking areas and smaller streets and roads continued in earnest during the early part of the week.
Monday’s school cancellation was considered necessary because teachers would not have been able to find a place to park and students walking to school would have experienced hazards.
The storm itself was major league, dumping almost 3 to 4 inches of snow an hour for a great deal of time Saturday until late in the evening.
Locally, the wind never gusted over 40, which was one of the clear differences between the Blizzard of 1978 and this storm.
During the Blizzard of 78, winds gusted for hours over 80 miles an hour and the temperature hovered in the single digits. Also, the tides were much higher during the Blizzard of 78 and there was a full moon and storm surges quite unlike any seen since that time.
During the Blizzard of 1978, Everett residents hunkered down.
No one had electricity. The roads were impassable for almost a week. Grocery stores couldn’t get truck deliveries. Major highways in Massachusetts were closed. Schools remain closed for longer than a week. Fire engine response were made impossible.
When the wind blew during that blizzard, our homes rocked. It was as if they were being slammed by sledgehammers with each gust.
This snowstorm dumped a pile of snow, but it was no Blizzard of 1978.