Storm brings strong gusts, power outages, and snow




A storm that brought Massachusetts its first snow of the season is beginning to wind down, forecasters said. The storm came with strong winds and rain, causing power outages and coastal flooding.

“It’s a classic nor’easter,” said Bill Simpson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

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By mid-morning, Greater Boston was seeing some snow, which continued into the early afternoon before turning into rain, and clearing out.

In southeastern Massachusetts, snow had been falling steadily. Beverly and Hyannis were still experiencing snowfall just after 2:30 p.m.

Simpson said the area just inside Interstate 495 and toward Rhode Island had mixed snow and rain, but that is “moving along pretty quickly” as it heads out to sea, he said.


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Snow has accumulated in some areas, with 1.7 inches reported on Blue Hill in Milton, 0.8 inches in Freetown, and 0.5 inches in Wakefield. Accumulation had largely stopped by mid-afternoon.

Foxborough had snow too, but it was winding down in the early afternoon, forecasters said. Officials were salting Route 1, according to State Police tweets. They recommend planning extra time for anyone driving to the Patriots game.

NSTAR reported about 7,200 without power at 2:40 p.m., mostly in the Cape Cod, Boston, and Cambridge areas. National Grid had about 1,400 without power, according to its outage map.

The coastal regions have seen some minor flooding, Simpson said.

“It wasn’t an astronomic high tide” in areas like Plymouth and Scituate, where normal flooding occurred, Simpson said.

Areas of Plymouth County and Nantucket closed some flooded roads, according to National Weather Service reports.

The Steamship Authority has temporarily suspended ferry service to Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket due to high winds and rough seas.

High wind warnings remain in place until 4 p.m. for Barnstable, Dukes, Eastern Plymouth, Nantucket, Southern Plymouth, and Eastern Essex counties. The warnings could include damaging winds upward of 58 miles per hour.

Fallen trees on roadways, powerlines, cars, and houses have been reported in many areas.

Road conditions are slippery, with State Police reporting a vehicle spin-out in Needham.

Early this week looks cold and clear, Simpson said.

Monday is expected to be mostly sunny, with highs in the mid-30s. Temperature should jump to the low- to mid-50s on Tuesday, before rising slightly into the high 50s for a cloudy Wednesday.

A storm could hit Thursday into Friday, according to forecasters.

Jennifer Smith can be reached at jennifer.smith@globe.com

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