Stoughton Storm Center: Town Battered by Blizzard

A storm called "Nemo" is expected to cause all sorts of problems this weekend. Stay up to date with the latest storm-related information here (some information courtesy of Stoughton town officials):

SUNDAY UPDATES

* Library Director Pat Basler said the Stoughton Public Library plans to open at 10 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 11

* Fire Chief Mark Dolloff reports that as of 4:33 p.m. Sunday, only 18 customers are without power in Stoughton as a result of this weekend's storm. 

* The Public Service agencies of Stoughton would like to ask the residents to please clear away the snow from the street drains near your home. The Stoughton area is expecting 3/4 inch of rain fall on Monday. 

* There will be no school Monday in Stoughton, as the town continues with storm cleanup. Click here for more details. 

* The Stoughton DPW will be picking up trash on Monday, however. The DPW asks to please have all trash out curbside by 7 a.m. 

* As a result of school being closed in Stoughton and Canton on Monday, Stoughton High Athletic Director Ryan Donahue via twitter said the SHS boys' and girls' basketball games vs. Canton have been moved from Tuesday to Wednesday. Same times and locations. Boys at SHS and girls at Canton. Freshmen 3:30 p.m.; JV 5 p.m.; and Varsity 6:30 p.m.

The Stoughton High hockey game vs. Apponequet scheduled for Monday 2/11 has been canceled. New game date and time TBA.

* As of Sunday at 11 a.m., National Grid reported 118 customers are without power in Stoughton. This is less than 1% of total customers in town, Fire Chief Mark Dolloff said. Dolloff said there is a large area from Highland St. to Bay Road, and all streets that intersect them, that are without power.

"The original report from National Grid was that they had disable that area to complete restoration work," Dolloff said. Dolloff said he has contacted National Grid for timeline information in terms of when power to this area will be restored.

* The MBTA will resume limited subway and bus service effective 2 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 10. The Commuter Rail will not resume service until Monday. Click here for more details. 

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UPDATE (Saturday, 7:45 p.m.) - Took a brief drive around town and plan to do another more extensive one Sunday when it is light out again. Amazing what DPW can do in a short period of time, and they will continue clearing the streets as there is still work to be done.

Main roads are passable, but still have a coat of snow in most places. Secondary roads/side streets are also passable but are narrow and have more snow. There is just snow everywhere on the side of the roads, which is to be expected when you get 30+ inches of snow.

Take a look at a brief video posted in the media gallery of a drive through downtown Stoughton on Washington St. from Pleasant St. to Lincoln St.

There are still 154 National Grid customers in Stoughton without power. The Stoughton Police Station community room is open as a warming and charging center for those in need and the Stoughton YMCA will be open Sunday from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. and anyone in the community who would like to come in to charge phones and use electricity is welcome, Associate Executive Director Ellen Greene wrote in an email. 

UPDATE (Saturday, 2 p.m.) - The Stoughton Fire Department passes along the following message via Facebook: "when cleaning your cars, be 100% sure that the exhaust pipes are clear of snow prior to starting your vehicle. Also, the exhaust from your furnace or gas water heater must be clear as well. Carbon Monoxide has no odor, and is a fatal gas."

Click here for more storm cleanup tips from the Stoughton Fire Department.  

UPDATE (Saturday, 1 p.m.) - Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick announced on twitter that the driving ban has been lifted immediately for Nantucket County and for all communities west of I-91; and that the driving ban will be lifted statewide as of 4 p.m. 

"Please still stay off the roads unless necessary to allow plows, utility crews & safety officials to clear streets & restore power," the Governor tweeted. "Use common sense and be safe."

UPDATE (Saturday, 12:40 p.m.) - The Stoughton DPW estimates the town received approximately 32 inches of snow. The DPW is fully staffed and out plowing the roads (with the added help of 38 contractors). Main roads are passable, a DPW spokesperson said. 

UPDATE (Saturday, 11:45 a.m.) - Mail delivery in Massachusetts and in all New England states will be suspended on Saturday because of the storm, the Huffington Post reports. 

Post offices will also be closed. Mail delivery will resume Monday.

Meanwhile, the sun is poking out in Stoughton and it appears as if the snow has subsided - hopefully for good.  

UPDATE (Saturday, 10:20 a.m.) - The following is from Fire Chief Mark Dolloff:

The Stoughton Police Community Room will be open as a warming and charging center for those in need. The COA and Library will remain closed.

At this time National Grid reports 174 Customers without power mostly in clusters of 4-6 homes which indicates a popped circuit breaker. These will be addressed this afternoon after the winds subside.

As of this writing all critical infrastructure remains under full power. Thank you for your cooperation.

UPDATE (Saturday, 10 a.m.) - WBZ reported on its broadcast that Stoughton has 31.5 inches of snow.  

At last check, 175 customers in Stoughton were without power, according to National Grid. 

MBTA service is suspended on Saturday and the travel ban remains in effect. 

SATURDAY 

As expected, the blizzard intensified in the overnight hours, according to the National Weather Service. The peak of this storm, WBZ reports, is from 8 p.m. Friday to 8 a.m. Saturday where snowfall will range from 1 to 4 inches per hour as heavy snow bands make their way through the area.

The Stoughton area remains under a blizzard warning until 1 p.m. on Saturday.

According to the National Weather Service, Saturday's forecast in Stoughton will call for "Snow, mainly before 1 p.m. The snow could be heavy at times. High near 23. Wind chill values as low as -4. Windy, with a north wind 23 to 26 mph, with gusts as high as 38 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 4 to 8 inches possible."

Exact snowfall totals for Stoughton are not available at this time, but the National Weather Service reports 19 inches have fallen in neighboring Randolph as of midnight and 15 inches have fallen in neighboring Sharon as of 3 a.m. Both of those totals are likely higher now as they were recorded before some of the heaviest snow had fallen. 

Total snowfall estimates are still expected to be at least 2 feet. 

As of 6 a.m., National Grid is reporting 166 customers are without power, including a sizable pocket on Bay Road near Ames Pond and the Easton/Sharon line. 

The Stoughton Public Library will be closed Saturday. It can be expected that many other businesses will follow suit.  

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UPDATE (Friday, 11:15 p.m.) - National Grid is reporting 164 customers are without power in Stoughton.

UPDATE (Friday, 10:45 p.m.) - The power is back on at Goddard Hospital on Sumner St. in Stoughton. Multiple ambulances were called to transfer the vent dependent patients, but transfers were ultimately canceled, Scott Mellyn of the Stoughton Fire Department said. 

Fire Chief Mark Dolloff wrote the following in an email: "There was an outage from a feed from Brockton. Their generator failed and the entire building was in darkness, we started to make plans to transport vent dependant patients. The EOC had direct contact with National Grid and was able to prioritize the repair. Everything was restored within aprox. 90 minutes with all positive results."

UPDATE (Friday, 10 p.m.) - According to confirmed scanner reports, the Goddard Hospital at 909 Sumner St. in Stoughton lost power and the backup generator failed. Scanner reports indicate some patients are being manually ventilated.

Brockton is dealing with a pocket of outages near the Stoughton line, which has spilled into Stoughton in the Sumner St. area.

There are scattered outages around Stoughton (111 customers, National Grid reports), including a small pocket near Ewing Dr. and Charles Ave. (near Washington St./Central St.), but there are no other widespread outages to report at this time, according to the National Grid outage map. 

UPDATE (Friday, 4:45 p.m.) - Some photo and video highlights from the storm taken around town Friday afternoon (around 2 p.m.) have been posted in the media gallery of this article. Will be interesting to compare these photos to ones taken later this weekend once the storm has subsided. 

UPDATE (Friday, 4:40 p.m.) - In appreciation for hard working snow plow operators and utility workers dedicated to community safety, Cumberland Farms says ‘Coffee on us’, according to a press release. 

Beginning Friday, Feb. 8 at 6 p.m. and lasting through 5 a.m. Sunday morning, Feb. 10, Cumberland Farms stores that remain open for business will offer a free cup of fresh brewed Farmhouse Blend coffee to all snow plow operators and utility workers. 

UPDATE (Friday, 3 p.m.) - The snow continues to intensify and is coming down at a steady clip. Secondary roads are generally covered in snow and primary roads have a coat of snow, or are at the very least slushy and slick.

UPDATE (Friday, 12:45 p.m.) - Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick announced on Twitter that he signed an Executive Order banning vehicles on the road effective at 4 p.m. Friday. A PDF of this order, as well as the text of the state of emergency can be found in the media gallery of this article. 

Exemptions from this ban include "public safety vehicles and public safety workers, including contract personnel; public works vehicles and public works workers; government officials conducting official business; utility company vehicles and utility Workers; healthcare workers who must travel to and from work in order to provide essential health services; news media; travel
necessary to maintain and deliver critical private sector services such as energy, fuel supplies and delivery, financial systems and the delivery of critical commodities; travel to support business operations that provide critical services to the public, including gasoline stations, food stores and hardware stores."

The Governor said to prepare for the possibility of being "shut in" for the next 24 to 48 hours.

UPDATE (Friday, 12:30 p.m.) - As of 12:30 p.m. the snow is starting to stick to secondary roadways and driveways. Intensity of the snow is picking up, but heaviest snowfall is not expected until this evening and into the overnight hours.

Assistant Public Works Superintendent Tom Fitzgerald said the timing of the storm helps his crews since people will be off the roads during the worst of the storm. He said the goal is to keep the roads passable for emergency vehicles, and where this is a long duration storm, for people in neighborhoods to have patience as the DPW crews clear the main roads first.

Trash was able to be collected Friday morning, Fitzgerald adds.

UPDATE (Friday, noon) - Light flurries started just before 9 a.m. on Friday, and now by midday, the snow is picking up. The grass is starting to be covered by snow. Not sticking to the roads...yet. This is just the beginning. Conditions are expected to deteriorate as the day progresses. 

UPDATE (Friday, 11 a.m.) - The Stoughton Public Library is closing at noon on Friday, Feb. 8 and will remain closed on Saturday, Feb. 9 due to the storm. Library plans to reopen Monday, Feb. 11 at 9 a.m.

UPDATE (Friday, 7:40 a.m.) - An emergency parking ban will be in effect Friday from 5 p.m. until 7 a.m. Saturday.  Park off the road or the town will have to tow vehicles to facilitate plowing.

FORECAST

The Stoughton area is under a blizzard warning until 1 p.m. on Saturday. The National Weather Service is expecting this area to receive upwards of 2 feet of snow. In fact, the National Weather Service said there is a chance of seeing accumulation totals near 3 feet.

Light snow will develop by Friday morning with it becoming heavy later in the day, into the evening commute, according to the National Weather Service. The heaviest snow will fall in the overnight hours, with the snow winding down by Saturday afternoon.

"Whiteout conditions are anticipated as roads become snow covered by [Friday] evening's commute. Strong north-northeast winds are anticipated with gusts up to around 60 miles per hour resulting in blowing and drifting of snow. Damage to trees and structures along with scattered power outages are anticipated," The National Weather Service reports.

Local snow predictions (as of 5 a.m. Feb. 8):

• Channel 4 (WBZ) - 24-30 inches
• Channel 5 (WCVB) - 16-24 inches
• Channel 7 (WHDH) - 16-24 inches (isolated areas 30+ inches)
• FOX 25 (WXFT) - 2 feet+

STORM CANCELLATIONS

• The Stoughton Public Schools are CLOSED Friday, Feb. 8 (click here for more info).

• Southeastern Regional High School is CLOSED Friday, Feb. 8

• According to a tweet from Stoughton High Athletic Director Ryan Donahue, "all athletic events (games, practices, tournaments) have been canceled for the entire weekend." The SHS hockey team's game vs. North Attleboro, originally scheduled for 2/9, will be made up Friday 2/22 at 4:40 p.m. at the Foxboro Sports Center.

• The MBTA will suspend service on all lines at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 8.

• All Registry of Motor Vehicle offices will be closed and all road tests cancelled on Friday, Feb. 8

EMERGENCY NUMBERS

• Stoughton Police: 781-344-2424
• Stoughton Fire: 781-344-3132
• National Grid outage reporting: 1-800-465-1212
• Verizon: 1-800-VERIZON (1-800-837-4966)
• Comcast: 1-800-COMCAST (1-800-266-2278)

Do not call 911 if your power goes out; call the National Grid outage line.

PARKING/DRIVING

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick is asking people to stay off the roads starting at noon on Friday, Feb. 8.

Stoughton Public Safety Officials would like to remind all residents of the winter street parking ban. Compliance with this ban is of the utmost importance during the impending snow storm. We request all residents refrain from driving between the hours of 5 p.m. Friday and 7 a.m. Saturday. The predicted snowfall could reach 2 to 4 inches per hour and we would hate to see any residents become stranded in their automobiles and hinder Emergency Services response. Thank you for your cooperation.

TRASH PICKUP

To insure rubbish/recycle pickup, all trash must be out by 7 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 8. The DPW will not be returning to make second runs.

POSSIBLE LOSS OF POWER

The Public Safety officials of the Town of Stoughton would like to inform the residents of the possibility of extended power outages due to the high winds associated with the approaching storm. If you are a resident who relies on oxygen or any electrical life support devices please be sure to make appropriate preparations now to insure these devices continue to function properly.

If power goes down please call National Grid [1-800-465-1212] and not 911 as it can flood the system.

ADOPT A FIRE HYDRANT

If you have a hydrant in or near your yard, please take time out to clear snow from around it. In the event of a fire, the time firefighters spend attempting to access a hydrant buried in snow could be critical minutes if a rescue is needed.

KEEP FURNACE/WATER HEATER VENTS CLEAR

If you have direct vents for your gas furnace or water heater (vents pipes that run from the units and vent out of a side of your home) please be sure that snow remains clear from blocking those pipes. Blockage could cause carbon monoxide to back up into the home.

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