Danvers Snow Emergency Parking Ban Rescinded Before It Began

DANVERS, MA — Danvers declared a snow emergency parking ban for 6 p.m. Tuesday with wind-swept rain expected to turn to a period of heavy wet snow — only to rescind it late in the afternoon when the swath of now never materialized.

Danvers Public Schools were dismissed early on Tuesday ahead of the change in the storm. All after-school and evening activities were canceled.

Winter storm warnings were extended farther east in Massachusetts as a nor'easter arrived in the state, promising a hefty dose of snow for many areas. The National Weather Service early Tuesday updated its snow predictions, moving higher snow totals into Essex County and the Boston area.

Meanwhile, new winter storm warnings were set to go into effect at 10 a.m. encompassing all of Middlesex, Essex and Suffolk counties.

As of noon, up to 24 inches of snow had already fallen in Northern Central Massachusetts in Ashby, Ashburnham, Gardner and Fitchburg.

The storm was already beginning to take a toll on infrastructure as of sunrise. Some 70,000 residents were without power as of 10:30 a.m., mostly clustered in the Berkshires and Central
Massachusetts.

On the Mass Pike, 40 mph speed restrictions were in place between Westfield and the New York border. The MBTA canceled all Charlestown and Hingham-Hull ferry service on Tuesday with very high winds expected along the coast.

Gov. Maura Healey on Monday evening ordered all non-emergency executive branch employees to stay home on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency was planning to open its emergency operations center in Framingham at 8 a.m. Tuesday to monitor conditions.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at [email protected]. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)