Blizzard pushes Boston's snowfall total to historic level

BOSTON - Boston Mayor Martin Walsh said he was at a loss for words Sunday, after yet another blizzard brought white-out conditions and raised snowfall totals to historic levels.

The city of Boston received an additional 16 inches of snow, all of which was driven by winds clocking in at 60 miles per hour in places, reports CBS News correspondent Jericka Duncan. As if adding insult to injury, temperatures are expected to drop to more than 30 degrees below zero in parts of New England when counting the wind-chill factors.

"I know that, as I was walking out of my house today, I just didn't know what to say," Walsh said. "People are just frustrated, people just want this to end and we all want the spring to come."

He says windy conditions and cold following the snow will be hazardous, and plows and emergency vehicles might not be able to see people walking in streets.

Walsh said the 7 feet of snow the city has received over the last three weeks are "historic." It's been estimated that Boston has seen more snow in the past three weeks than Chicago has ever had in an entire winter.

The mayor said he expects the economic impact to be "big," and affect businesses large and small.

The city's homeless shelters are at overflow capacity. An army of 600 snow plows are clearing streets, and a snow emergency and parking ban will continue.

"The most important thing people need to do today is stay safe and take care of themselves," Baker said. "Someone who gets trapped out there. . . it's just going to be a very bad day to be on the roads."

More than 10 inches of snow was measured in Boston by 7 a.m, already making this winter the city's third-snowiest on record, CBS Boston reported. Blizzard conditions were verified in places around Massachusetts including Chatham, Plymouth, Hyannis, Martha's Vineyard and Falmouth.

The blizzard has become so strong that a father and son, who had set sail for Australia had to be rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard. The sailors called for help just before 5 a.m. Sunday when their 43-foot sailboat lost power and had its sails torn in the storm, Petty Ofc. LaNola Stone told CBS Boston.

They were rescused by a helicopter 140 miles southeast of Nantucket.

Walsh says Boston is continuously melting snow at three dump locations, and hasn't needed to release any into Boston Harbor.

Massachusetts called up hundreds of National Guard troops to assist with snow removal. Hanscom Air Force base outside Boston became a staging area for heavy equipment pouring in from eight other Northeast states to help in the effort.

More than 6 feet of snow already stood in some areas from previous storms; a blizzard warning was in effect for coastal communities from Connecticut to Maine into Monday; and a bone-chilling blast of cold, with lows of minus 10 degrees was in the Sunday night forecast for many parts of the region.

The only people out on the town right now appear to be tourists like 26-yearold Yanchen Shi from China, who was walking through Quincy Market on Sunday.

"It's amazing for me," she said. "I've never seen anything like this. Unfortunately the shops are closed."

New England's residents might not get a chance to breath, as another storm is forecast to possibly hit the area on Tuesday.

But the winter blast isn't sparing other parts of the country.

Nasty weather is coming to north Mississippi, the National Weather Service says.

A winter storm warning says sleet and freezing rain is likely Sunday evening through Monday evening from near Tunica northeast across far north Mississippi, meteorologists said.

Counties near the Tennessee state line could get a ½ inch to ¾ of an inch of ice, up to ½ of sleet and less than an inch of snow, said Marlene Nickelson, a meteorologist in the weather service office in Memphis, Tennessee. That could make travel dangerous if not impossible.

They say people also could lose power as ice takes down branches, trees and power lines. "The rest of North Mississippi, from Oxford and Tupelo, could get up to a ¼ inch of sleet and ice, changing to rain in the afternoon and then possibly back to snow late Monday night," Nickelson said. Little accumulation there is likely, she said.

In Georgia, things will be just as tricky.

On Sunday Gov. Nathan Deal issued a State of Emergency until Tuesday ahead of a wintry mix expected to hit areas of northern Georgia. Up to a quarter inch of ice could accumulate in more than a dozen mountainous northern counties that include cities such as Blairsville, Dalton and Dahlonega, the National Weather Service said in a winter storm warning.

The winter storm has the potential to cause significant damages throughout and could bring down trees and power lines and roads may be nearly impassable, the order says.