Blizzard Peaks Today, Heavy Snow Ends this Afternoon

Rhode Islanders woke up to howling winds and about a foot or more of wildly drifting snow on the ground Tuesday morning with much more to come.

The powerful winter storm promises blizzard conditions through the day and the snow won’t let up until this afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

The statewide travel ban that went into effect at midnight will remain in place for the time being, said Governor Gina Raimondo. The ban “is working and we’ve had almost no accidents through the night.”

But, she said, “we’re not out of the woods yet.”

The Rhode Island State Police reported that they responded to 67 accidents before the ban went into place and none afterwards.

“Thank you to those of you heeding the travel ban,” the state police said on their Facebook page. “Please continue to stay home and be safe.”

State and local plow crews have been working through the night to keep main roads clear, but visibility has made it at challenge. In Cranston, Mayor Allan W. Fung told plow drivers to pull over if they have to. In Portsmouth, the Portsmouth EMA reports that the DPW is doing a great job trying to keep roads clear but they’re facing major snow drifts along East and West Main Roads, among other roads.

The Mt. Hope, Claiborne Pell and Jamestown Verrazzano Bridges also remain closed. The Rhode Island Bridge and Turnpike Authority reported that winds were sustained at 53 mph as of 6:30 a.m. with gusts up to 64 mph.

The Blizzard Warning will remain in place for Rhode Island until 1 a.m. Wednesday and officials are encouraging people to avoid leaving the house for any reason until plow crews have had a chance to make roads passable.

Snow totals could reach about two feet before the storm ends later tonight, with an additional 6 to 10 inches falling during the day today.

About 750 electricity customers were without power Tuesday morning, according to National Grid. Most of the outages were centered in Washington County; in Narragansett, 328 customers were without power after an outage in the town’s North End. In South Kingstown, 199 customers were without power.

The cold temperatures and strong winds have created massive drifts in some places. The high temperature Tuesday will be just 19 degrees or so, according to the weather service, and the low tonight will be in the single digits.

Those who do venture out will find the state has mostly ground to a halt. Few businesses are open and most employers have decided to let their workers stay home for the day.

For the full list of closings and cancellations go HERE.