The effects of a powerful nor’easter that barreled into the state, bringing with it high winds, heavy rain, and some snowfall, are expected to dissipate throughout the day Thursday. That said, rain and snow will still linger for the majority of the day and forecasters warned another 6 inches could fall in some areas.
Wind speeds will steadily decrease throughout Thursday, with some lingering rain and snow in most areas of the state, according to the National Weather Service. Most of the precipitation on Thursday is expected to fall as snow in areas “away from the immediate coast.” Near the coast, the precipitation will fall as a mixture of rain and snow.
Higher elevations above 1,000 feet could still see between 3 and 6 inches of snowfall before about 6 p.m. Thursday, with lower areas seeing a coating to an inch of snow.
The aftereffects of the storm will perhaps be more felt than the precipitation it brought in most areas, with forecasters warning that it will “feel more like early February today rather than early April.”
A winter storm warning remains in effect through 8 a.m. on Friday for large swaths of Northwestern Massachusetts and North Central Massachusetts, with a winter weather advisory covering many of the remaining regions of the state.
Preliminary snow totals from the Weather Service show the predicted overnight snowfall was not a total bust, as other storms have been this year.
Roughly 6 inches fell in Plainfield, the early leader in the clubhouse for the highest total in the state, and more than 3 inches fell in Pepperell. Other reported totals were 2 inches in Andover and roughly an inch each in Methuen, Ashby, Lexington, and Westborough.
The weather service reported Thursday morning that some “thunder snow” was impacting Western Massachusetts. Thunder snow is “a rare weather phenomenon in which thunder and lightning are accompanied predominantly by snow rather than rain,” according to the weather service.
The highest winds were reported in Barnstable County, with Wellfleet reporting speeds of 69 mph, and Kalmus not far behind that at 67 mph. Suffolk County also reported high speeds, with 57 mph reported at Revere Beach, 53 mph at Carson Beach in South Boston, and 46 mph at Fenway Park.
The storm brought the potential for power outages, which is being borne out Thursday morning as nearly 14,000 residents are without power as of 7:10 a.m., according to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency. The largest concentration of outages was in Spencer, where more than 50% of customers — roughly 3,000 — reported having no power.
Eversource reported more than 2,000 customers affected by outages across Eastern and Western Massachusetts, while National Grid reported 219 active outages affecting more than 8,500 customers.
