Peabody Schools Canceled, Parking Ban Declared For Thursday Snow

PEABODY, MA — Peabody declared a snow emergency parking ban for Thursday's expected storm.

The parking ban was set to go into effect as of 7 a.m. and last until further notice. All vehicles parked on city streets as of that time are subject to ticketing and towing.

"Please remove all parked cars from public roads to allow for safe and effective snowplow operations," the city said in a statement Wednesday morning.

Peabody Public Schools also said late Wednesday afternoon that all classes and school offices would be canceled for Thursday.

• Icy, Snowy, Messy Thursday Mix Across MA: See Storm Timeline

While snow totals are not forecast to be particularly high — 2 to 4 inches across the state with higher amounts in the Merrimack Valley and Worcester Hills and lesser amounts near the South Shore and South Coast — it will be a messy one with the National Weather Service saying on Wednesday that snow will rapidly overspread the region between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. on Thursday.

"The snow may be briefly heavy with 2 to 3 inches in just a couple hours," the NWS said. "Snow then changes to sleet/light freezing rain with diminishing intensity. Temps remain near or below freezing through Thursday afternoon."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)