March Nor'easter: Swampscott Schools Early Dismissal On Tuesday

SWAMPSCOTT, MA — Swampscott Public Schools students will be able to call it an early day on Tuesday as the district looks to get out ahead of a change from rain to heavy wet snow on the North Shore.

SPS will follow our early release schedule Tuesday. All afternoon and evening activities were canceled along with the YMCA after-school program.

District offices were to close at 2 p.m.

Winter storm warnings were extended farther east in Massachusetts as a nor'easter arrived in the state, promising a hefty dose of snow for many areas.

The National Weather Service early Tuesday updated its snow predictions, moving higher snow totals into Essex County and the Boston area.

Meanwhile, new winter storm warnings were set to go into effect at 10 a.m. encompassing all of Middlesex, Essex and Suffolk counties.

The storm was already beginning to take a toll on infrastructure as of sunrise. Some 27,000 residents were without power as of 7:30 a.m., mostly clustered in the Berkshires. On the Mass Pike, 40 mph speed restrictions were in place between Westfield and the New York border.

The MBTA canceled all Charlestown and Hingham-Hull ferry service on Tuesday with very high winds expected along the coast.

Gov. Maura Healey on Monday evening ordered all non-emergency executive branch employees to stay home on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency was planning to open its emergency operations center in Framingham at 8 a.m. Tuesday to monitor conditions.

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