Thousands of pieces of snow removal equipment ready as nor’easter moves in

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    BOSTON (WCVB) — Thousands of pieces of snow removal equipment are ready as a powerful nor’easter moves into Massachusetts.

Gov. Charlie Baker said the state would activate the Massachusetts Emergency Management as officials prepare for the worst of the storm to hit.

“The snowfall is predicted to be heaviest with up to 2 to 3 inches per hour starting this afternoon and into the evening. It should taper off by tonight and will end across most of the state by sometime tomorrow afternoon,” Baker said. “The forecast is predicting a pretty bid dump, somewhere between 12 and 18 inches of heavy, wet snow across a lot of Massachusetts, so this is one people should take seriously, prepare for and pay attention to.”

Baker urged companies to allow employees to work remote and urged residents to stay off the roads.

MassDOT said they have 3,900 pieces of equipment on standby and they will be out in full force.

“We are going to ramp up pretty quickly in the early afternoon. I expect that we are going to have a full call out – so a little more than 3,000 pieces of equipment. We will have them working the road through the peak of this,” MassDOT Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver said.

Normally, the state would be focused on pre-treating the roads, but officials said that will be a challenge because of the bitter cold temperatures that have settled into the region.

“The road temperatures are so cold that pretreatment, which is applied in a liquid condition, can create icy conditions if it’s not warm enough. We usually like put it down when it’s just before freezing. This time, where it has been close to zero, it can be more problematic than helpful,” MassDOT Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver said.

Gulliver said heavy, wet snow can become slick fast.

“We are encouraging anyone who can work from home to do so and to really try to be off the roadways by noon time,” he said.

Officials said COVID-19 staffing shortages they dealt with during December’s snow storm will not be an issue this time. They said they are close to full staff.

MEMA spokesperson Chris Besse says Massachusetts residents, particularly those who live along the coastline, should be prepared for power outages as wind gusts pick up Monday evening.

“Hopefully, they keep their power on but just in case, they have flash lights, batteries, all the things they need. They’ve got all their electronic devices,” Besse said. “If they do have an emergency generator, we always want to remind people to make sure that they are using that safely outside, away from their home with working carbon monoxide.”

“The snowfall is predicted to be heaviest with up to 2 to 3 inches per hour starting this afternoon and into the evening. It should taper off by tonight and will end across most of the state by sometime tomorrow afternoon,” Baker said. “The forecast is predicting a pretty bid dump, somewhere between 12 and 18 inches of heavy, wet snow across a lot of Massachusetts, so this is one people should take seriously, prepare for and pay attention to.”

Baker urged companies to allow employees to work remote and urged residents to stay off the roads.

MassDOT said they have 3,900 pieces of equipment on standby and they will be out in full force.

“We are going to ramp up pretty quickly in the early afternoon. I expect that we are going to have a full call out – so a little more than 3,000 pieces of equipment. We will have them working the road through the peak of this,” MassDOT Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver said.

Normally, the state would be focused on pre-treating the roads, but officials said that will be a challenge because of the bitter cold temperatures that have settled into the region.

“The road temperatures are so cold that pretreatment, which is applied in a liquid condition, can create icy conditions if it’s not warm enough. We usually like put it down when it’s just before freezing. This time, where it has been close to zero, it can be more problematic than helpful,” MassDOT Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver said.

Gulliver said heavy, wet snow can become slick fast.

“We are encouraging anyone who can work from home to do so and to really try to be off the roadways by noon time,” he said.

Officials said COVID-19 staffing shortages they dealt with during December’s snow storm will not be an issue this time. They said they are close to full staff.

MEMA spokesperson Chris Besse says Massachusetts residents, particularly those who live along the coastline, should be prepared for power outages as wind gusts pick up Monday evening.

“Hopefully, they keep their power on but just in case, they have flash lights, batteries, all the things they need. They’ve got all their electronic devices,” Besse said. “If they do have an emergency generator, we always want to remind people to make sure that they are using that safely outside, away from their home with working carbon monoxide.”

The MBTA will replace its 60-foot long, articulated buses running on routes with standard 40-foot buses. Service on the Mattapan Trolley Line will be suspended at 3 p.m. Buses will provide replacement service.

Officials said crews will continue to inspect overhead wires on the Blue and Green Lines, looking for ice buildup. Ice-cutters, installed on Blue and Green Line vehicles, are designed to remove any ice buildup on the overhead wires.

Registry of Motor Vehicle customer service centers will close at noon.

Worcester Commissioner of Public Works Jay Fink said the two challenges with the storm will likely be wind and the duration of the snowfall.

“Sometimes that takes effect on the equipment and on the people,” Fink said. “If it’s heavy and it turns out to be a foot or more of heavy snow, we’re going to expect the equipment to start to go down.”

Worcester moved its winter parking ban from 2 p.m. to 8 a.m. because of the early arrival of the snow and opened all city public parking garages for free.

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