Storm reaches Boston; blizzard winds and coastal flooding feared

“Conditions may be too severe, too dangerous to get the trucks out,’’ said Steve Kass, a spokesman for the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency. “Anyone thinking they wake up [on Monday] and [commute] to work on roads…that just isn’t going to happen.”

About the busiest place in some communities yesterday appeared to be grocery and convenience stores, whose shelves were emptied of essentials such as milk, rock salt and shovels, along with non-essentials such as movie rentals and liquor.

"It's just crazy. Crazy,'' said Ray Peterson, manager of Scituate's Village Market, who called in half his staff to deal with the crush wrought by the blizzard. "They're buying everything that's not nailed down.''

Unlike the fizzled forecasts that have made skeptics of weather-watchers, National Weather Service meteorologists said this storm seemed to gain strength through the weekend, delivering blizzard-like conditions further west than they had expected on Saturday, while dumping more snow on Cape Cod.

Tonight, the National Weather Service forecast 16 inches of snow for Boston and similar totals for the Worcester and Springfield areas. Parts of Cape Cod were expected to get 8 inches of snow, twice the initial forecast.

About 11,000 National Grid customers lost power shortly after 7 p.m., according to spokeswoman Debbie Drew. About 2,500 of those customers are on the island of Nantucket, she said. The outages are the result of snow, heavy winds, and in some areas, downed power lines, said Drew.

Though the first flakes of the storm reached Massachusetts early this morning, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino warned that the worst weather would come between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. when high winds and heavy snowfall would create near-zero visibility, the definition of a blizzard. National Weather Service forecasters expect the storm to be over by noon Monday.

And the National Weather Service warned that the risk of coastal flooding would be particularly high overnight when the storm's 50 miles per hour winds combined with the high tide just after 3 a.m. Meteorologist Alan Dunham said the fishing ports of Scituate and Gloucester faced the greatest flood risk.

The nor'easter, which gave the city of Atlanta its first white Christmas since 1882, barreled north into New York and New Jersey by early this afternoon, dropping 1 to 2 inches of snow per hour and forcing major airlines to cancel inbound flights to New York City by 3 p.m.

At about the same time, a sea of anxious passengers filled the terminals at Logan International Airport,hoping to catch a flight out before the storm got too severe for planes to take-off. Airlines were still checking passengers' bags, but there were ominous signs all around: on the departure board in Terminal A, all of Delta's flights after 4:27 p.m. were marked "cancelled."

Those who flew into Boston this afternoon were also anxious, but for different reasons. Stephanie Shepherd, 17, of Medfield, said she gave relatives a huge hug after "quite a bit of turbulence" as her plane flew in from Dallas.

"It was scary at first," said Shepherd, of her descent into Boston. "It was all white."

In South Station, where all Amtrak service from Boston to Washington D.C was cancelled after 5 p.m., would-be passengers who thought they would avoid Logan's problems by taking the train were unhappily surprised.

Alexis Ostnioff was trying to get home to New York City after her flight out of Logan International for today was cancelled. She then bought an Amtrak ticket via Washington D.C. but was left stranded with the cancellation of that train.

“I tried to get an earlier flight, but then I said ‘oh, I’ll just take the train,’” the 30-year-old said. “I thought it would be the best shot.” Instead, she was left hoping that Amtrak service would be restored Monday morning.

By 6 p.m., MBTA train service was affected by the growing storm; Red Line service from Alewife Station in Cambridge to Braintree was 25 to 30 minutes late because of track-switching problems.

Conditions on major highways steadily deteriorated through this afternoon: eastbound traffic on the Massachusetts Turnpike had slowed to a crawl beginning at the Charlton rest stop near Interstate 84, with average speeds of 10 miles per hour. Drivers who disregarded Patrick's warning to get off the roads by 3 p.m. reported similar slow-motion processions on Route 128 and other Greater Boston roads as wind-whipped snow, darkness and slippery roads made for white-knuckled driving.

"To have this happen on a Sunday during a holiday weekend is incredibly frustrating," said New York City resident Kate Lindquist, who was stranded in Boston after her bus ride home was cancelled.

But not everyone was miserable as the blizzard descended. Those who decided to stock up on supplies and ride out the storm from the comfort of home had a decidedly more positive attitude.

"I just want to get cozy,'' said Steven Gross of Newton as he loaded bags of firewood into his car outside the Home Depot in West Roxbury.

He and his wife were supposed to be heading to Puerto Rico Monday, but their flight was canceled.

"We're not going, but we'll have a nice vacation at home," he added. "Sometimes life throws you curve balls. You have to make the most of it.

And children found the winter wonderland in the storm.

In Great Barrington in the Berkshires, Ole Andersen and his two young daughters were so excited about the impending snow that they were already sledding down the giant hill at Monument Mountain High School early this afternoon even though there was barely any snow on the ground.

"I like a lot of snow because you go faster," said Hayley, moments before she took another plunge down the hill on her sled.

But a lot of snow takes longer to clear and public officials urged residents to use common sense -- and patience -- as they dig out.

The snow from this storm is dense and heavy, creating the risk of back injuries and heart stress for people shovelling. And with so much snow falling, city streets may not be fully clear for days, creating difficult driving and parking conditions.

"It's a serious situation, but if everybody cooperates, we will get through it," said Menino.

Noah Bierman, Beth Daley, John Ellement, Thomas Farragher, Meghan Irons, and Jonathan Saltzman of the Globe Staff, and Globe Correspondents Stewart Bishop, Lauren Finch, and Emma Stickgold contributed to this report.