About 9 inches of snow fell in parts of the Island yesterday, matching the National Weather Service's prediction of 4 and 9 inches of snow, before tapering off in the evening.
Snow was falling at rates of about 2 inches per hour.
Snow was falling at rates of about 2 inches per hour.
Schools, town offices and businesses all shut down due to a strong snow storm Tuesday and Island officials are urging people to stay off the roads to allow plow drivers to do their jobs.
About 9 inches of snow fell in parts of the Island, matching the National Weather Service's prediction of 4 and 9 inches of snow throughout the day, before tapering off in the evening. The agency said the northeaster shifted from the mainland to the Cape and Islands in the afternoon, potentially dropping up to 2 inches per hour.
The snowfall was combined with strong winds, creating hazardous driving conditions across the Vineyard.
Strong winds made it tough to see.
Strong winds made it tough to see.
“It’s a heavy snow,” said Edgartown police chief Bruce McNamee. “The trees are all pulled over.”
By 3 p.m., hundreds of people across the Island were without power. Approximately 1,720 people were in the dark Tuesday afternoon. Most power was restored by Wednesday morning, though a few outages persisted.
Russell Hartenstine, spokesperson for the Dukes County Emergency Management Association, said plowing would continue throughout the afternoon and evening and extra Eversource crews were on the Island to help restore power.
“The road crews are keeping up with the plowing as best we can right now,” he said.
Mr. Hartenstine said he had not heard of any major crashes, which he hoped meant that people were listening to the early warnings from Monday.
The Martha’s Vineyard Public Schools system and the public charter school both shut down in anticipation of the storm. Town offices and businesses closed early.
Businesses, schools and town offices all closed for the day.
Businesses, schools and town offices all closed for the day.
Several Steamship Authority ferry trips were canceled, though the service said it was making the call on a trip-by-trip basis.
About 6.5 inches of snow had fallen in Vineyard Haven and 9 inches in Chilmark, according to reports compiled by the National Weather Service.
Mr. Hartenstine expected the Vineyard would get between 6 and 8 inches by storm’s end. The storm was the first significant snowfall for the Island this winter, after stronger rain storms lashed the Island’s south shore in December and January.
Comments
Very disappointing, OB's plow
AnonymousVery disappointing, OB's plow-neglect. Roads remain a mess, especially the road that houses the OB HWY DEPT and is a main road to the hospital. EDG, however, top-notch! Thank you EDG HWY DEPT for doing such a great job!
After speaking w others about
AnonymousAfter speaking w others about OB's shameful plowing prowess, I feel more validated to echo this gripe. EDG apparently could teach a master class in town management of snow removal. Why did the Town of OB not plow their roads?
Oak Bluffs did plow their
Albert GosnoldOak Bluffs did plow their roads, just not to your satisfaction.
Should Oak bluffs spend more tax money to satisfy you?
Thank you Eversource for
David CrawfordThank you Eversource for restoring power before midnight. We saw them working late into the night up and down our road.
Oak Bluffs should make good
AnonymousOak Bluffs should make good use of the resources it has! County Road was untouched; the HWY DEPT is on County Road!!
I don't understand why
Town Plow DriverI don't understand why everyone picks apart the towns for their plowing. First of all there are openings at almost every highway department so please if you think you can do better come help. And second of all if when there is a snow storm all you people that feel the need to just drive around would just stay home and off the roads so we can do our jobs it would be helpful instead of getting in the way. There are only so many of us and we can't be on every road all at once it takes time
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