A windy nor’easter with snow and rain created many car accidents and at least one trailer accident on the state’s dangerous roads and also caused power outages and other issues due to fallen trees and branches.
Speed limits on highways in the western and central parts of the state remain at 40 miles an hour as the nor’easter continues to move across the state.
27,787 power outages were recorded around 9:30 this morning, according to the outage map made by the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.
MassHighway reports that over 1,000 pieces of snow and ice equipment are out scraping the highways with many times more that number deployed by cities and towns.
A fallen tree has blocked the tracks on the Mattapan Trolley. MBTA crews are working to clear the mess from the tracks near Cedar Grove. While they work, shuttle buses are in place between Ashmont and Mattapan.
The strong winds also led the MBTA to cancel morning ferry services. The T said it expects to have the boats running again around noon.
The Massachusetts State Police reported responding to scores of spinouts on Routes 90, 290, 90, 9, and 495 in a post overnight.
“If you do not need to be on the roadways, avoid doing so,” State Police advised.
The National Weather Service, in an update posted this morning, said the rain, sleet and snow, along with gusty winds will be winding down through the day.
“It will feel more like early February today rather than early April with temps in the mid 30s, and wind chill values in the mid 20s,” the agency said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
[715 AM Radar Update] Rain, sleet and snow continue to impact the region early this morning. There was even some thunder snow/sleet currently impacting parts of western MA. pic.twitter.com/z0pdoS3fAH
— NWS Boston (@NWSBoston) April 4, 2024
Wind gusts across the state consistently reached marks above 40 miles an hour and into the 60s at locations on the coastline.
A Revere Beach observer registered a gust at 60 miles per hour, according to the weather service, and the wind sock flapped in 55 mile an hour gusts recorded at Logan Airport.
Snow and sleet totals ranged between 1-2 inches in most parts of the state, with higher totals out west and in Central Mass.
An 8-inch reading was recorded in Hawley, in Franklin County. Ashburnham, Hubbardston and Lunenburg, all in Worcester County, each recorded measures over 4 inches, according to weather observations made by the National Weather Service.
— Developing
