Children sledding, cars careening and plows scraping the roadways after snowfall began around 3:00 a.m. on Friday morning from a winter storm made its way across Massachusetts, with the heaviest accumulation happening between 5 and 11:00 a.m. The snow continued to fall throughout the late morning, with flurries coming down until the early afternoon before dissipating around 3 p.m..
The National Weather Service in Massachusetts had issued a winter storm watch for Middlesex County on Thursday night after they tracked the fast-moving storm coming in from the west, which was estimated to drop around three to six inches of snow Friday morning.
The winter storm watch was updated to a winter storm warning for parts of eastern Middlesex County, after the snowfall was predicted to dump six to eight inches within less than twelve hours.
Although the winter storm watch and warning are no longer in effect as of 4:00 p.m. Friday, the NWS continues to warn Massachusetts residents not to travel on the roads due to slippery roads and windy conditions that can blow gusts of snow into the air and limit visibility.
Traffic advisories were put in place on I-495 northbound as well as on US Route 3 and MA Route 2. The speed limit on the Massachusetts Turnpike was also reduced to 40 mph from I-495 through the New York state line. Despite the subpar road conditions, there were no reported accidents in the Westford area.
Westford Academy announced Thursday night on the school’s Twitter account that all Westford Public Schools would be closed on Friday due to the snowstorm impacting the morning commute to school. Classes are set to resume on Monday, January 10.
However, despite the heavy snowfall, Westford and the surrounding area was spared the brunt of the snowstorm, with parts of Massachusetts reporting over a foot of snow. The NWS reported that the storm was the single biggest snowstorm to hit the area since December of 2020.
You must be logged in to post a comment.