Salem Snow Parking Ban, Schools Closed Thursday

SALEM, MA — Salem Public Schools were canceled on Thursday with a quick-moving winter storm expected to bring up to 4 inches of snow to the North Shore from mid-morning into the afternoon.

Salem Schools said that all afternoon and evening activities were canceled for Thursday with regular learning to resume on Friday.

Salem State University also cancelled classes for Thursday.

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

Salem Superintendent Steve Zrike said the timing of the storm made it prudent to go ahead and cancel on Wednesday.

"It didn't make sense to have an early release or late start and we thought it was the safest thing to do," Zrike said. "We try to get the information to families as early as possible so they can plan."

Zrike said a day will be added to the end of the school year in June as a make-up.

The Pre-K and Kindergarten Expo Meet & Greet scheduled for Thursday will be moved to next Thursday.

Salem declared a snow emergency at 8 a.m. on Thursday citywide. This snow emergency will remain in effect until further notice. DPS is asking residents to slow down and use caution there may be icy spots on the road surfaces, and freezing rain is predicted as the storm continues.

DPS was to continue to treat the roadways well into Wednesday night.

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.)