March Nor'easter: Beverly Schools Early Dismissal With Snow Forecast

BEVERLY, MA — Beverly Public Schools students will be able to call it an early day on Tuesday as the district looks to get out ahead of a change from rain to heavy wet snow on the North Shore.

All after-school activities and evening activities are canceled on Tuesday and buildings will be closed as of 1:30 p.m.

Morning preschool will be dismissed at 11 a.m. with no afternoon preschool on Tuesday.

Elementary school students will be let out of school at noon, high school students will be dismissed at 12:30 p.m. and middle school students will get out of school at 1 p.m.

Lunch will be served at all public schools.

According to the National Weather Service on Monday morning, forecasts said 12 to 18 inches could fall in a wide area between I-495 and the Quabbin Reservoir. Between I-495 and Route 128, totals could be in the 4- to 8-inch range, with up to 5 inches in the Boston area along North Shore coastal communities.

Precipitation will begin as rain Monday afternoon, but a changeover to snow could reach Worcester by 9 p.m., according to the weather service. That snow line will remain until the Tuesday morning rush hour, when snow will spread east of I-495, according to forecasts released Monday morning.

The biggest impact of the storm along the coast could be the high winds. Gusts could reach between 50 and 55 mph between Worcester and Framingham. Along the coast, gusts could reach 60 mph or higher, according to forecasts.

There are also coastal flooding concerns with the biggest concern being the Wednesday morning high tide.

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