New England braces for another storm

Areas still recovering from previous storms.

BOSTON — Exasperated New Englanders still digging out from three major storms that left 6 feet or more of snow in many areas are bracing for what’s expected to be another punishing blast of winter this weekend.

The National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning for all of eastern Massachusetts and coastal areas of Maine and New Hampshire ahead of a storm expected to intensify tonight and last into Sunday, bringing bonechilling cold behind it.

Wind gusts could howl at 70 mph and north-facing coastal areas could suffer moderate flooding and beach erosion from the “monster storm,” said Bill Simpson, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Taunton, Massachusetts.

“Snow amounts will not be as much as the previous big storms, but still, when you have 8 to 14 inches of snow, wind driven-snow, the cold air and the snow that is already there, it’s probably going to be very difficult for a lot of people,” he said.

If there was a silver lining, Simpson said, the track of the storm was likely to stay far enough off shore to avoid crippling impacts and reduce the amount of snowfall inland. It will also hit over a holiday weekend, which could minimize travel effects, though it could disrupt some Valentine’s Day plans.

The northern New England coast could see greater snowfall totals — with up 2 two feet in Down East Maine. Officials warned that hurricane-force wind gusts could lead to power outages.

The Coast Guard had an airplane flying in the Gulf of Maine broadcasting a warning to mari- ners about the impending storm, said Lt. Scott McCann.

The forecast added to the urgency Friday of crews working to remove massive snow piles that have clogged streets and triggered numerous roof collapses.

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

Patricia Vinchesi, town administrator in Scituate, said a state of emergency would go into effect at midnight in the coastal community were portions of the seawall were breached during a late January storm.

“We’ve sort of been in reaction and recovery mode and before we can get any appreciable degree of recovery we are in reaction mode again,” Vinchesi said of the coming storm.

The National Guard helped dig out 700 fire hydrants in recent days and workers from the New York Department of Transportation were lending a hand to the snow removal effort on Friday, she said.

The state gave Scituate permission to dump snow into the ocean because there was nowhere else to put it.

Boston Mayor Martin Walsh said two machines capable of melting 135 tons of snow per hour arrived from New York City on Thursday.

AP Pedestrians walk among mounds of snow Friday in downtown Boston. Another winter storm could bring an additional foot or more of snow to some areas.