Final report on Blizzard of 2013

The courthouse has reopened after the storm and so has registry of deeds.  Everything closed Friday at noon.  The snow was falling at that points but it hadn't accumulated very much.  Governor Patrick issued an order banning driving during the duration of the storm.  That caused some online griping but no one got stranded on the roads by the storm and cleanup of the main roads and highways, at least, went more smoothly.  The side roads and intersections in Lowell are still in tough shape and the city's parking ban continues until 11am today but even after that parking will be difficult and driving will be made more difficult as cars parked alongside snowbanks squeeze the width of travel lanes.

The intensity of the storm increased greatly at about 4pm on Friday.  I live less than two miles from the courthouse and by 11pm Friday had 11 inches of snow.  Saturday at 8am it was still snowing heavily and there was 22 inches on the ground.  The snow stopped falling entirely by 10am and the sun began burning through the clouds for a few minutes but then clouds, wind and colder air arrived. 

The driving ban ended at 4pm on Saturday and the MBTA which had suspended service on Friday afternoon slowly crept back to life on Sunday afternoon with full service expected to be restored by this morning.

There was no school in Lowell today, partly because of the large amounts of snow that were left to be removed but also because of the forecast of freezing rain (which spared us during the morning commute but is falling right now at 1030am).  The courthouse maintenance staff did an excellent job clearing the walkways and sidewalks around the building.  Hopefully the weather will turn warm for a stretch and much of the newly fallen snow will quickly disappear.