As Central Mass. digs out, another big storm is on its way

After a few-too-many shovelfuls of snow this past weekend, Central Massachusetts is bracing for another storm, this time with heavy rains that could make for severe flooding, according to the National Weather Service.

Rainfall is expected to batter the region overnight Tuesday starting around 10 p.m., continuing to shower the region into Wednesday morning.

The area is expected to see about 2½ inches of rain and, combined with melting snow from the weekend's storm, that could cause flooding, according to Alan Dunham, meteorologist at the weather service.

The weather service has issued a flood watch from Tuesday at 7 p.m. until Wednesday at 1 p.m.

“For Greater Worcester it may start off as snow changing over to heavy rain,” said Dunham. “That with the snowmelt could give the possibility of some flooding of the small river streams and some very good ponding of water on roadways if there are any storm drains that are clogged up.”

The weather service has also issued a high wind watch for southeastern Massachusetts. Worcester could see wind gusts as strong as 40 miles an hour, according to Dunham, Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.

Dunham added that temperatures will start picking up above freezing in the early hours of Wednesday and are expected to reach the mid-50s later in the day, which will result in rapid snow melt.

Final numbers from weekend snowstorm

Worcester received 15.5 inches of snow from the storm that began Saturday night and continued into Sunday. Within Worcester County, the highest measurement came from Ashburnham, with 17.5 inches. Snowfall totals were less in the southern parts of the county.

Ahead of Tuesday's rainstorm, Jay J. Fink, the Worcester's commissioner of public works and parks, said the city will start to make sure catch basins are clear Tuesday, although he also asked for the help of the public to report any clogs through the city's nonemergency 311 phone line.

Fink said the city is still working on the snowstorm's aftermath, having deployed about 312 pieces of equipment — 40 of those being city-owned — to brave "a bit of a difficult snowstorm," as early as Sunday at midnight.

Fink added that while about 20 of the city's vehicles broke down in efforts to clear the roads, the department will continue to clear and treat roadways as late as Monday night.

"Another thing that didn’t help," said Fink, "was that on almost every street we found contractors and snowblowers pushing snow back into streets."

Monday morning, National Grid reported in a press release that it had restored power to about 54,000 customers statewide who had lost service because of the snowstorm.

It added that all customers were expected to have power back by the end of the day Monday.

“Our crews are back in the field today, working to restore power to our customers as quickly and safely as possible,” Tim Moore, vice president for electric operations for New England, said. “We’re preparing for tomorrow’s storm, which is expected to bring strong winds, especially along the coast.”

No school in Worcester

Following the storm, Worcester students went sledding instead of studying, as the district called off school.

More: Worcester custodian finally got the chance to announce no-school day. Here's how he did it

As the snow packed the city’s smaller streets and the sidewalks across its many hills, Worcester was alone among area districts in its decision to call off school.

Other districts only had a delay.

“The safety of our students and staff is always our top priority,” said Dan O'Brien, a spokesperson for the school district. “The Worcester Public Schools made the decision to keep schools closed Monday to ensure there would be no safety issues and that our school grounds are fully cleared."

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Central Mass. snowstorm over, now heavy rain and wind on the way