Boston braces for second blizzard this week

Another day, another blizzard for Boston.

After a mild start to the winter, the second blizzard this week brought the promise of another foot of snow and prompted school closures across the state, including in Boston.

Snow totals of 9 to 13 inches, winds of more than 50 miles per hour and low visibility prompted Mayor Marty Walsh to “play it safe,” he said, announcing the closure in a 4 p.m. news conference Sunday “out of the safety for our kids and also for keeping people off the roads.”

Freezing rain and snow battered the city throughout the day Sunday, keeping accumulation low, but the storm promised to ramp up overnight as temperatures dipped below freezing.

The snow will be wet and heavy, making for a slushy and dangerous commute, Walsh said.

Anyone headed into the city Monday morning is advised to use public transportation and steer clear of the roads.

The T, which underwent a $100 million winter preparedness overhaul following its failures during a spate of February blizzards in 2015, passed its first major test during last week’s blizzard. While there were a few delays here and there, trains kept running and there were no major service interruptions.

With another storm predicted to hit the region Thursday, Walsh said keeping roads clear was a top priority, and had the city’s 600 pieces of snow-fighting equipment out in force Sunday.

“In 2015 we got caught off guard a little bit and took a little longer to open up the streets the way we needed to,” Walsh said, referring to the spate of storms that crippled the city two Februaries ago. “This year we are trying to stay ahead of that.”

In the interest of keeping streets clear, he warned people not to throw snow into the streets.

“We’ll have code enforcement out there to make sure businesses and people aren’t out there throwing snow on the street,” he said.

Walsh warned residents to take it easy while shoveling Monday and take small shovelfuls.

He asked people and businesses to dig out hydrants and handicap spaces near their property

Earlier this week, Boston weathered the storm with no major power outages or other issues, but the wet, heavy snow expected this time could cause some problems, Walsh said.

“This storm is different, it will be heavy, watery snow and we anticipate there could be some problems,” the mayor said, mentioning downed power lines or tree limbs.

“If there are any, we want to get on top of it as fast as we can,” he said, directing residents to use the city’s 311 system to report any non-emergency incidents.

For more information on snow alerts, visit boston.gov/snow.