Salem Blizzard: Snow Emergency Parking Ban Starts At Midnight

SALEM, MA — A snow emergency parking ban begins in Salem at midnight Friday night as the city prepares for a massive snowstorm expected to dump up to two feet of snow with 50 mph winds, coastal erosion and moderate flooding at high tides along the North Shore.

All vehicles must be removed from city streets or be subject to ticketing and towing.

Snow emergency parking rates begin at 7 p.m. Friday in the South Harbor and Museum Place parking garages.

The Salem Public Library will be closed both Saturday and Sunday.

The Salem Skipper ride-sharing service is also suspended on Saturday.

The BlueBikes bicycle-renting service is suspended both Saturday and Sunday.

The Salem Maritime National Historic Site — the Salem Armory Regional Visitor Center and all the restrooms — will shut down on Saturday.

Salem residents can get their winter sand from the city ahead of the storm. Residents are allowed up to pails of sand per visit to the Salem Department of Public Service's parking lot at 5 Jefferson Avenue.

The National Weather Service issued an official blizzard warning for all Massachusetts communities inside of Route 495 Friday morning.

A blizzard has winds of more than 35 mph and less than a quarter-mile of visibility.

Eversource is preparing for the likelihood of power outages due to downed trees or limbs by positioning line and tree crews across the state – including hundreds on loan from other states.

While some store shelves are likely to already be bare for necessities like milk, bread and eggs, Friday would also be the day to put together a pack of other essential items such as flashlights, batteries, water, non-perishable foods, pet food and any needed medications. Eversource advises residents to make sure cell phones and devices are fully charged.

Patch will post updates throughout what could be one of the biggest one-day snowfalls in recent North Shore history.

If you have any photos from the storm that you would like included in a possible gallery, send them — including the community where they were taken — to scott.souza@patch.com.

(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.)