New England Braces for Third Nor’easter in Less Than Two Weeks

New England is bracing for yet another winter storm — the third since the beginning of March — that could bring up to 18 inches of snow in parts of Maine and as many as 8 inches in the Boston area, a forecaster said Sunday.

A winter storm watch was in effect from Monday evening through Tuesday afternoon for much of New England.

Snow is expected to be heaviest in New Hampshire and Maine, particularly in Portland and Bangor, Maine, said Brian Hurley, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center, which is part of the National Weather Service.

“The highest potential for greater than a foot would certainly be in Maine,” he said.

Cities farther south along the East Coast will face far less precipitation.

New York could see up to 4 inches of snow, Philadelphia could get 2 and Washington will most likely have about an inch, the Weather Prediction Center said Sunday.

Parts of New Jersey remained without power after last week’s storm. As of Sunday afternoon, more than 14,000 customers served by Jersey Central Power & Light were still waiting for their electricity to be restored.

On Twitter on Saturday, Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey called the company’s lack of preparation and response “embarrassing and unacceptable.”

“Once all power has been restored to every New Jersey resident and business, our administration will begin an investigation into what went wrong and how utilities could have responded better,” he added.

Jersey Central Power & Light said in a statement that most of the customers without power were expected to have it restored by late Sunday.

“Our JCP&L personnel and outside line crews have been working 16-hour days to safely restore power since the storms hit the region and will continue to do so until the job is finished,” Jim Fakult, the company’s president, said in the statement.

Hurley said the wind won’t be as strong or as long-lasting as it was during the other recent storms, so he didn’t expect to see as many power failures.

“Certainly there are going to be higher wind gusts toward the coast,” he said.

In Cape Cod, Massachusetts, winds may gust as high as 40 to 50 mph, which could result in fallen tree branches, the National Weather Service in Boston said Sunday morning.

Last week, a nor’easter pummeled the East Coast on the heels of another powerful storm that knocked out power for 2.7 million and killed at least eight people.