Snow, wind, cold: Latest storm numbers for Central Mass.; Worcester declares snow emergency

The region is in line for heavy snow (up to 18 inches), heavy wind (high as 44 mph) and bitter cold (minus 10 wind chill) in what is shaping up to be a historic winter weekend.

Worcester declared a snow emergency late Friday ahead of Saturday's storm, putting a travel ban in effect in the city as of 11 p.m.

A declared winter parking ban goes into effect at midnight.

The Worcester Public Library and Worcester Common Oval skating rink will be closed Saturday, and the Residential Recycling Drop-Off Center will all be closed Saturday.

Towing and ticketing will be aggressively enforced to keep streets clear. No parking will be permitted on emergency routes and where prohibited during a declared ban.

For questions, call the DPW Customer Service Center at 508-929-1300.

During a late-afternoon press conference about the impending storm, Gov. Charlie Baker did not announce a state of emergency, but rather implored people to simply stay off the roads Saturday.

However, Baker said a tractor-trailer ban on state highways will go into effect starting at 6 a.m. Saturday until midnight Sunday.

Utility companies are preparing for outages.

A blizzard warning will be in effect at midnight for points east of Central Mass., although the National Weather Service has moved the line further west, closer to Interstate 495.

Central Mass. will be under a winter storm warning.

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Weather: Worcester forecast

The latest estimate puts Worcester at 12 to 18 inches of snow, according to the National Weather Service. The updated forecast, posted about noon Friday, includes snowfall overnight Saturday. Areas to the north of Worcester could get up to 18 inches, an increase in earlier forecasts.

Heavy wind will be part of the mix. The Worcester area could see gusts as high as 44 mph during the day Saturday, the weather service said.

The temperature will drop to single digits Saturday night, with wind chill as low as minus 10 for Worcester, according to weather service estimates.

National Grid and Unitil have crews on standby for an utility outages over the weekend.

Telegram & Gazette reporter Craig S. Semon contributed to this report.

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This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Snow, wind, cold: Latest storm numbers for Central Massachusetts; blizzard warning to east of Worcester