A major winter storm continues to batter New England on Sunday, with up to a foot of snow leading to power outages, closings, crashes and flight delays.
Winter storm warnings and watches were in effect throughout the Northeast, and icy roads made for hazardous travel across the region. Numerous churches and schools closed or canceled services.
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The National Weather Service said it was a “major winter storm” that would continue into Sunday evening, with up to a foot of snow in parts of New England. Temperatures are expected to plummet around 1 or 2 p.m., resulting in a freeze up on the roads in the evening hours. There will likely be some ice on the roads that lingers overnight before it starts to melt later on Monday morning.
PHOTOS: Snow blankets Mass., NH, delighting many (but not drivers)
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About 17,000 Massachusetts electric customers were without power on Sunday morning. A power outage impacted the entire Town of Ipswich on Sunday evening. Most power was restored by 9p.m.
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation said about 2,000 pieces of equipment were out clearing the state's highways.
Leominster Mayor Dean Mazzarella said his city has about 100 pieces of equipment out on the roads, and he is hopeful school will be able to open on Monday morning.
"Streets are in decent shape and there's more people out here than I thought" Mazzarella told NBC10 Boston's Tevin Wooten. "We have a hospital here, that's a regional hospital. People come from all over to get to it so we have to make sure people can get in and out of the hospital."
So far, only a handful of crashes had been reported across the region, but the heavy snow caused damage in some areas.
A Framingham resident was briefly trapped inside their home after a large tree fell onto their house.
A large tree fell near the roadway on Arnold Street in Wellesley, bringing down with it power lines.
About 80 flights into and out of Boston Logan International Airport were canceled as a result of the storm, and cancellations were reported at Connecticut's Bradley International Airport as well.
In Massachusetts and portions of Rhode Island, the National Weather Service declared a winter storm warning from Saturday night through 1 a.m. Monday, with snow accumulations of 6 inches to a foot and winds gusting as high as 35 mph. The weather service predicted similar levels of snow in portions of Maine and New Hampshire, with slightly less — 3 to 6 inches — in areas of Vermont.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said the city was preparing for the storm but wasn’t expecting it to be a major event, and the timing of the snow meant it would likely have less of an impact on city life. Storm surges were also not expected.
Forecasters also warned of another storm Tuesday into Wednesday that is expected to bring rain and some flooding as well as high winds and coastal flooding.
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont says it’s been about two years since a major storm hit the state.
“I think this storm’s been a long time coming,” Lamont said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
