Heavy Snow — Northwest Providence, Rhode Island

2024-02-13 · Northwest Providence, Rhode Island

Event narrative

Generally 5 to 10 inches of snow fell, with more in western Rhode Island and less in eastern Rhode Island. Some notable accumulations include 10.5 inches in Scituate, 10.3 inches in Foster, and 9.7 inches in Smithfield.

Wider weather episode

A quick hitting winter storm brought around 12 hours of snow, centered over Connecticut, with the greatest amount of snow in Massachusetts falling on Cape Cod and the islands. This was a notoriously difficult to forecast storm passing south of 40/70 benchmark, which was a significant shift south in the final 24 hours leading up to the storm. This moved the band of heavy snow well south of Boston (0.1) to Cape Cod which received 7-9 inches of snow. The heaviest snow of the storm fell in Hartford County, Connecticut where over 15 inches of snow was reported. The result was many schools and businesses in eastern MA closing and receiving little to no snow. Cape Cod had about 30,000 people lose power due to the heavy, wet nature of the snow. Winds were also strong on the Cape and islands, gusting 45 to 55 mph in the afternoon which reduced visibility in blowing snow. Winds gusted to 30-40 mph on the Rhode Island coast.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1153588. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.