Weather

Gradon Tripp managed to photograph the giant cloud of doom about to crash down on 128 north around 4:30 p.m.

Maybe they were right.

The National Weather Service says dry air and gusty winds are enough for a dreaded Red Flag Warning about brush-fire conditions in eastern and central Massachusetts:

A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS WILL OCCUR SHORTLY. ANY FIRES THAT START MAY SPREAD RAPIDLY AND BECOME DIFFICULT TO EXTINGUISH.

The warning is set to expire at 5 p.m.

Jed Hresko photographed the remains of the wrapping on that new Jackson Square building this morning - the second time in the past few months it's proven no match for local winds.

A fed-up citizen reports from the South End:

Unshoveled sidewalk at 15 Union Park Street. St. John the Baptist Church, once again ignoring one of the ten commandments of urban life..."Thou Shalt Shovel Thy Sidewalk".

If only there were some way the city could help.

At 8:54 a.m., Rebecca, who took this photo, reported she'd been standing at the Sutherland Road Green Line stop for more than 20 minutes, and that she was a mere newcomer there - she could still feel her feet.

At the very same time, Katherine Delaney posted a photo showing things were almost as bad on the Red Line - even more crowded, but at least a train was running.

This comes the day after T General Manager Beverly Scott said she's giving serious consideration to fare hikes of up to 33% and delaying needed maintenance starting July 1.

Leslie Jones took lots of photos of Boston things covered in ice, such as firetrucks, but especially fishing boats, such as this trawler in 1938.

Posted under this Creative Commons license.

Roving UHub photographer Jed Hresko spotted this snowman taking shelter this morning at Laviscount Park on Humboldt Avenue in Roxbury.

Enoch Pratt noticed this sign outside a South Boston church on Sunday.

UPDATE, 8:42 p.m.: Our phone rang and the kidlet picked it up. As soon as she began jumping and yelling, I knew: School is canceled in Boston tomorrow. Barring any more snow days, this means Boston Public Schools will get out for the year on June 28. All Boston Centers for Youth and Families sites will be open tomorrow, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Somerville announced this afternoon it's cancelled school, but America's Toughest City says school is still on. Parents who do get their kids to school will no doubt get really, really annoyed if they get robo-calls at noon again that absent kids won't be marked absent.

Greg Hum shows off his two-wheeled drumming during the Friday snowstorm.

Amy Chandler shows us one of the features of living right on the ocean.

Also see Shirley Street in Winthrop.

Kyle W. Kerr enjoyed watching all the bicyclists in the snow this morning as he waited for the bus on Brighton Avenue in Allston.

Wicked bad traffic into Boston, wicked high tide at Neponset River Bridge. Photo by Boston Harbor Beacon.

State Police, of course, closed Morrissey Boulevard early this morning, which is what you can expect from a road built roughly two inches above sea level next to a bay. And that, naturally, meant shutting the exit to Morrissey off I-93 northbound.

At 7:59 a.m., Steve Bickerton tweeted:

Neponset Circle backed up Gallivan Blvd. to Eire Pub.

Michelle added:

Neponset Ave is a parking lot. 15 mins from Coffey Street to Lil Peach.

Meanwhile, upbay at Castle Island, Steve Brady reported:

The ocean is slowly devouring the Sugar Bowl, and the water is up to the sidewalk at parts of the causeway. Couldn't even see a hint of the harbor islands from the Sugar Bowl, either. Just the swollen ocean. Very eerie.

MuckRock has put together an interesting chart and map based on data about tickets issued by city inspectors for failing to shovel sidewalks after the February blizzard.

Via Matt Carroll.

We're now under a Winter Storm Watch for Wednesday night through Friday:

STRONG WINDS AND HEAVY WET SNOW WILL WRAP TO THE N OF THIS LOW...LIKELY AFFECTING PORTIONS OF EASTERN MASS... THERE IS STILL SOME UNCERTAINTY...BUT CONFIDENCE GROWS THAT THIS STORM WILL HAVE A MODERATE TO HIGH IMPACT ON SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND.

THIS WILL BE A LONG DURATION STORM...WITH SNOWS BECOMING HEAVIER EARLY THURSDAY MORNING INTO THE DAY THURSDAY. THE SNOW WILL GRADUALLY TAPER OFF BY THE MORNING FRIDAY.

Wind gusts out of the northeast up to 50 m.p.h.? You bet. Potential for damaging coastal flooding due to the confluence of the storm and high tides? Of course.

And that's why the French Toast Alert level is now Elevated.

UPDATE: Alert level now at High due to warning by Todd Gutner to get errands done now before we're swept out to sea, or words to that effect.

Diego Arciniegas photographed Curley in the snow tonight (also Kevin White).

As weather computer models churned late yesterday and spit out results that showed far, far less snow this weekend than originally predicted, some of our local forecasters braced for criticism. Some discussion on Twitter last night:

Watch and listen (audio NSFW).

Don't worry, Bostonians, Masshole Carl Spackler here works (worked?) in Lowell, WBZ reports.

At least as of 6:30 p.m., no Snow Emergency or Parking Ban has been declared in Boston.

The news is unlikely to please either the East Boston resident who filed a formal complaint asking for action against somebody who "moved our space saver and stole our shoveled spot" or the person in Dorchester who filed a formal complaint asking for action against neighbors "still using space savers leaving residents who stopped using them when we were supposed to with very limited parking."

Chansky's in Brighton kept track of the top daily purchases in the days just before, during and just after the blizzard.

Via Boston Reddit.

The mayor, who apologized to locals a couple days ago about the pace of snow removal, went on national TV this morning and gave the city an A+ for snow removal.

The local National Weather Service says we could get some snow this weekend - and then several days of frigid temperatures:

WHILE TODAY IS VALENTINES DAY...CERTAINLY THIS NEWS WON'T WARM THE HEART.

A shocked South End resident cannot believe this sort of sign is now popping up on places like West Brookline Street:

This is a highly disturbing sign. South End Neighborhood Associations do not support space savers. Please have DPW begin removing these items.

Whiteout.

H/t Marc.