Snowstorm forces Boston to delay Super Bowl parade until Wednesday

[February 03, 2015]  By Tim McLaughlin
 
 BOSTON (Reuters) - Boston will delay until Wednesday its parade to celebrate the New England Patriots' Super Bowl victory, after Mayor Marty Walsh decided on Monday to push the event back a day because of a snowstorm pounding the city.

The city had intended to host the parade on Tuesday. But heavy snowfall is expected to last until about midnight, dropping as much as 14 inches (36 cm), while temperatures on Tuesday are expected to drop as low as 15 F (-9 C).

"Due to today's bad weather and the worsening forecast tonight, the New England Patriots and the city of Boston have made the mutual decision to postpone the victory parade until Wednesday," Walsh said in a statement.

Thousands of fans are expected to turn out to see players including star quarterback Tom Brady and Malcolm Butler, the rookie who snagged a last-minute interception to secure Sunday's victory over the Seattle Seahawks.

The team will tour the city in World War Two-era amphibious trucks known as "duck boats" in what has become a tradition for Boston's championship clubs.

Fans are calling Sunday night's game one of the best Super Bowls ever, with the Patriots clinching their fourth championship after a heart-stopping sequence of plays in the game's final minutes.

Walsh also canceled Tuesday classes for students in Boston public schools for a second straight day, reflecting the severity of the storm.

The cold, however, was not enough to deter dozens of fans from waiting outside of the team's home field, Gillette Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, for the returning champions on Monday night.

Images published by the team on Twitter showed head coach Bill Belichick waving to the throngs braving the weather and defensive end Chandler Jones posing for pictures.

"Saw all of those @Patriots fans out there standing in the cold at Gillette just now! I had to come show love! Love all of you guys!" Jones tweeted.

(Reporting by Tim McLaughlin; Editing by Scott Malone, Eric Beech, Peter Cooney and Clarence Fernandez)

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