First snow of the season brings three inches in some areas, dusts the city of Boston
By Taylor M. Miles, Globe Correspondent Snow greeted Boston with a light -- and early -- first fall of the season, but the wintry weather made a much more forceful introduction in central and western parts of the state, where some areas collected up to three inches. The town of Ashfield in Franklin County led the state tonight with the heaviest snow fall at 3.2 inches, according to the National Weather Service. The first reports of snow in the greater Boston area came around 9 p.m. Saturday the wintry trend is expected to continue with as much as 8 inches possible in the Worcester hills area. Boston could see 1 to 3 inches. Harder-hit areas could be facing downed trees, power outages, and road blockages, as well as winds potentially up to 30 to 40 miles per hour if the forecast holds, the weather service said. Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency spokesman Peter Judge said that the agency would determine any necessary steps as the storm got closer. Tomorrow offers a brief respite with sunny skies, but chilly temperatures only getting up to the upper 40s. ‘‘Accumulating snow in October is rare, but it has occurred,’’ National Weather Service meteorologist Stephanie Dunten said. The snow is about a month early: The first snow typically occurs in Boston around Nov. 28. The snowiest October day on record in Boston was 1.1 inches on Oct. 29, 2005, and in Worcester, 7.5 inches. on Oct. 10, 1979. The front was moving from west to east, so snow was expected to start slowing down or dissipating in the state around midnight and be fully out of southern New England by 7 a.m. Blandford in Hampden County and Goshen in Hampshire County reported two inches of accumulation at about 10 p.m. Hubbardston in Worcester County received about three inches. The rest of the state, including the Boston-Providence corridor, was expected to only see a dusting, according to the weather service. No snow was expected in southeastern Massachusetts and on the Cape. Snow was expected to linger on grassy surfaces in the Boston area, but not on the roads. Dunten warned drivers to be cautious, as slippery conditions were likely, especially in the western part of the state. ‘‘Because temperatures are going to be close to freezing, there could be some slick conditions out there,” she said. State Police received reports of minor crashes and spinouts in the western and central parts of the start state, but no serious injuries were reported, said spokesman David Procopio. In the Boston area, there were numerous minor accidents on Interstate 93, mostly in northbound lanes, throughout the day. They caused significant delays on the rain-slicked roads, particularly near Furnace Brook Parkway, but no serious injuries. Martin Finucane of the Globe staff and Globe correspondent Jaime Lutz contributed to this report. |
|
|
