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Third nor’easter of 2018 to hit New England – Metro US

Third nor’easter of 2018 to hit New England

New England may be done with winter, but winter is far from finished with New England.

Boston was forecast to get as much as a foot-and-a-half of heavy snow during the latest nor’easter, which is the third the region has seen in less than two weeks.

The storm, which the Weather Channel dubbed Winter Storm Skylar, was anticipated to cause “impossible travel conditions” Tuesday morning. Forecasters at the National Weather Service expected the storm to start late Monday night — after midnight — and continue through Tuesday, with near-blizzard conditions and snowfall rates hitting between 1 and 3 inches per hour.

The National Weather Service Boston branch told followers on Twitter that they were in “full storm mode” with “all hands on deck.”

“Folks, as the latest model data becomes available, we’ll be making updates as soon as we possibly can. We’re in full storm mode, all hands on deck. We’ll do the best to answer everyone’s inquiries, but for the time being, find your local forecast at http://mobile.weather.gov.”

Forecasters in the National Weather Service Eastern Region branch noted the anniversary of two historic storms — Skylar falls on the 25th anniversary of the Blizzard of 1993, and on the 130th anniversary of the Great Blizzard of 1888. At least history buffs have something to celebrate.

In addition to white out conditions, the tempest would likely bring strong winds, forecasters said. In short, residents should aim to stay off the roads if possible on Tuesday.

“Anticipate travel impacts on both commutes on Tuesday,” service forecasters wrote, adding that southeastern Massachusetts could see power outages due to falling trees.

Last week, as many as 350,000 Massachusetts homes were still without power thanks to the previous nor’easter, which dropped between 5 and 20 inches over the state.

Boston Public Schools said all schools would be closed on Tuesday, and city officials announced that a parking ban would be in effect at 7 p.m. Monday. Residents would be able to park in discounted garages starting at 5 p.m. Monday.