Snow was falling at rates of about 2 inches per hour. — Ray Ewing

Schools, town offices and businesses all shut down due to a strong snow storm Tuesday and Island officials are urging people to stay off the roads to allow plow drivers to do their jobs. 

About 9 inches of snow fell in parts of the Island, matching the National Weather Service's prediction of 4 and 9 inches of snow throughout the day, before tapering off in the evening. The agency said the northeaster shifted from the mainland to the Cape and Islands in the afternoon, potentially dropping up to 2 inches per hour. 

The snowfall was combined with strong winds, creating hazardous driving conditions across the Vineyard.

Strong winds made it tough to see. — Ray Ewing

“It’s a heavy snow,” said Edgartown police chief Bruce McNamee. “The trees are all pulled over.” 

By 3 p.m., hundreds of people across the Island were without power. Approximately 1,720 people were in the dark Tuesday afternoon. Most power was restored by Wednesday morning, though a few outages persisted.  

Russell Hartenstine, spokesperson for the Dukes County Emergency Management Association, said plowing would continue throughout the afternoon and evening and extra Eversource crews were on the Island to help restore power.

“The road crews are keeping up with the plowing as best we can right now,” he said.

Mr. Hartenstine said he had not heard of any major crashes, which he hoped meant that people were listening to the early warnings from Monday.

The Martha’s Vineyard Public Schools system and the public charter school both shut down in anticipation of the storm. Town offices and businesses closed early.  

Businesses, schools and town offices all closed for the day. — Ray Ewing

Several Steamship Authority ferry trips were canceled, though the service said it was making the call on a trip-by-trip basis. 

About 6.5 inches of snow had fallen in Vineyard Haven and 9 inches in Chilmark, according to reports compiled by the National Weather Service. 

Mr. Hartenstine expected the Vineyard would get between 6 and 8 inches by storm’s end. The storm was the first significant snowfall for the Island this winter, after stronger rain storms lashed the Island’s south shore in December and January.