As the morning wears on, the storm is arriving from the south and advancing up Rhode Island.

By 8 a.m. the police on Block Island were reporting near blizzard conditions, with windblown snow reducing visibility to less than 100 feet.

Block Island is under a blizzard watch until 7 p.m. Wind gusts of up to 70 mph. are expected. Accumulation of 8 to 11 inches is likely.

On the shore, Charlestown was reporting increasing heavy snowfall that was accumulating on the ground. The National Weather Service is reporting a maximum wind gust of 48 mph in Charlestown, 33 mph in Newport and 64 mph on Nantucket.

North of the Washington County line most departments were reporting only flurries or just high winds, though Burrillville officials said they’d had snow falling since around 6:30 a.m.