Over a foot of snow has accumulated in Westford as a powerful Nor’easter makes its way across the state.
Throughout the past few days, the National Weather Service had been tracking a severe snowstorm approaching Massachusetts, which was capable of producing over a foot of snow and wind gusts of over 65 mph. The storm began on the evening of Friday, Jan. 28 and continued into the evening of Saturday, Jan. 29.
Snowfall rates of two to four inches per hour led to whiteout conditions, and made travel extremely difficult. Due to the high wind gusts and rapid accumulation, state officials advised against any travel unless absolutely necessary. Gale force winds uprooted trees, caused significant property damage and created power outages.
While not as vulnerable to the heavy snowfall as the coastal communities, which have been reported to have received up to 30 inches of snowfall, Westford was slammed with 12+ inches, with the snow continuing to fall into the evening.
Temperatures in Westford were reported to be as low as 7℉, with a wind chill of -2℉ brought by the storm.
Meteorologists have reported that the storm was classified as a bomb cyclone, which is caused when air pressure rapidly drops within a short period of time. This is what is said to contribute to the strong winds and heavy blowing snow.
These factors caused the National Weather Service to issue a blizzard warning for eastern and northeastern Massachusetts, which includes Westford, effective from midnight Friday to midnight Saturday.
The National Weather Service stated that the storm’s path is very unpredictable at the moment, and that it can change at any time.
However, given the current data, the storm is now one of the top ten blizzards on record for eastern Massachusetts, and the largest snowstorm to hit the Westford area since March 13, 2018, nearly 4 years ago. The last time two feet of snowfall from one storm was recorded in the state was on January 27, 2015, exactly 7 years and two days ago.
