Salem Residents Bracing for Heavy Snow, Bitter Cold

Salem may see anywhere from 8 to 14 inches of light snow and near blizzard conditions Thursday and Friday.

According to the weather forecasts, the nor'easter is expected to bring heavy snow and "dangerously low wind chills" at times. Snowfall was expected to begin around midnight on Thursday.

Salem Public Schools and Salem State University will be closed Thursday and Friday.

The National Weather Service has announced that a Winter Storm Warning will be in effect from 4 a.m. Thursday to 10 a.m. Friday. The weather service is predicting that there will be whiteouts during the worst of the storm and "travel may become impossible."

Snowfall should be lighter but steady throughout the day on Thursday with 2-4 inches expected to accumulate, according to the weather service.

The brunt of the storm is expected to hit Thursday night into Friday with 1 to 2 inches of snow falling per hour. The weather service estimates the Peabody area could see 4-8 inches of snow during that period alone.

The anticipated low Thursday night is 8 degrees with 20-30 mph winds and 45 mph gusts, effectively making it -6 degrees. Friday morning, however, could see the wind chill drop to -13 degrees.

The storm is expected to die down in the afternoon, but with only a high for the day of 12 degrees. Saturday should be mostly sunny and low 20s while it may even hit 40 degrees on Sunday.