Both the blizzard and flood warnings have been pushed to 8 p.m. this evening as sustained winds should peak in the mid 40 mph range around 5 p.m. before slowly subsiding into the 20 mph range around midnight. As mentioned, blizzard conditions consist of sustained winds or frequent gusts greater than 35 mph with “falling or blowing snow.” Currently, and as for most of the day, it is quite difficult to discern the difference between falling and blowing snow yet nevertheless, we’ve satisfied the criteria.
In regards to road conditions and general accessibility, I would equate any plowing efforts made thus far to that of raking one’s yard in a hurricane; futile. In fact, this storm in particular marks the most pronounced downtime in regards to plowing that I can recall as the overall consensus from plow contractors to the voyeurs appears to be that of waiting out the wind.
Current outages show Orleans at 532 and Eastham at 140. Many of you may have seen reports showing virtually all of Nantucket without power in addition to over 5500 customers in Provincetown and these are in fact valid and support the myriad of variables that can put 18” of snow in West Brewster while Eastham is playing crochet.
In terms of conditions going forward, winds should wind down to a more seasonal teen to 20’s range early Wednesday morning yet wind chills look to hover in the single digits before climbing into the teens later on in the day Wednesday. From this mark, temperatures will remain below freezing as wind chills struggle to reach 27 heading into Thursday where the needle finally reaches 32 under sunny skies.
Given the timeline of this system’s departure, follow ups will begin in 10-12 hours and I will plan on issuing another general update mid morning. As follow ups commence, live houses will be dialed back to their designated settings and those without power will be reported and place back in the rotation until we’re all online. If anyone has friends of family that do not have someone to check in or use a group that may be hung up anywhere between Yarmouth and Truro, please use the 8668 number and leave the particulars. At the very least, a quick walk around can be worked into the loop.
As a lifelong resident of the outer Cape I was the third generation to pick up the mantel in the family construction business. In my early twenties, I called the Cape my home on weekends as I spent several years working for a variety of off-Cape commercial construction companies. My site supervision resume includes two supermarkets, two HUD projects, a funeral home and a handful of steel industrial buildings as well as various restaurant and office remodels.