Salem February Snow Emergency Parking Ban Declared

SALEM, MA — A snow emergency parking ban is set to begin in Salem Thursday night at midnight with up to 12 inches of snow forecast for the North Shore.

All vehicles must be removed from city streets or they will be ticketed and potentially towed.

The Museum Place and South Harbor garage snow rates were set to go into effect at 5 p.m. on Thursday. Those parked in garages before 6 p.m. will be charged the regular hourly rate until the vehicle is retrieved.

Both of the state's "Stop the Spread" coronavirus testing sites at St. Peter's Church and Salem High School are closed on Friday. Salem Skipper service is canceled for the day.

Municipal offices are closed, but most personnel will be available remotely.

The Salem Public Library is closed. It will reopen at 9 a.m. on Saturday.

Residents are reminded that parking in most school lots during a snow emergency is no longer allowed. A list of alternative snow emergency parking sites can be found here.

The Salem Public Schools February vacation program was canceled for Friday.

The program that ran at the Horace Mann school concludes on Thursday.

A winter storm warning was issued everywhere but the South Shore and Cape Cod, which are under a winter storm watch, from 12 a.m. Friday to 12 a.m. Saturday. The National Weather Service says snow will start falling before dawn on Friday, gathering 1-2 inches per hour during the morning commute.

The latest forecasts from Thursday morning call for 8-12 inches of snow north of the Mass Pike, while precipitation will change to the wintry mix south of the highway.

While the snow will surely be a shock coming less than 48 hours after record-high temperatures soared to nearly 70 degrees on the North Shore, school vacation week will temper some of the upheavals that go along with a significant winter storm.

Check back with Patch for updates throughout the vacation snow.

(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.)