Berkshires Spared Brunt of Snowstorm
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| The National Weather Service shows heavy snow (purple) forecast for the Berkshires and Southern Vermont. |
NORTH ADAMS - The Berkshires were spared somewhat as a major Nor'easter tracked slightly to the east.
But a steady snowfall that began in the wee hours of the morning still left several inches of snow and caused school cancellations throughout the Berkshires.
The National Weather Service had been estimating up to 12 inches of snow for the Berkshires beginning late tonight and into the morning.
This was the sixth significant snowfall of the season; last year, the region didn't see a storm until Valentine's Day. This storm follows several days of relatively balmy weather for January, which has helped melt away lot of the snow from the last few storms.
NewsChannel 10 (WTEN) in Albany, N.Y., had been forecasting heavy accumulations of snow in the Capital Region, Northern Berkshire and Southern Vermont unless the storm moved to the south or east. The Weather Channel was predicting 6 to 9 inches late Sunday night.
The snow will continue to fall into the afternoon and is likely to light and fluffy, meaning drifting and reduced visibility for the Monday morning commute.
Dalton and Lenox have declare snow emergencies beginning tonight and into Monday. Residents are advised not to park in along the roadways.
The scheduled breakfast meeting to mark the start of the semester at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts has been canceled. The college has delayed classes until 10 a.m.
The sun might not make an appearance until late Tuesday afternoon, and then briefly; possible snow flurries are forecast throughout the week.
As always, police are urging drivers to take care: reduce speed in poor driving conditions and clear your vehicle of snow and ice. Updated information on state highway conditions can be found by calling 511.
The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency is reminding drivers to allow for extra time for the morning commutes and to make sure gas tanks are full. Many vehicles ran out of gas in the Boston area when a snowstorm last month left traffic gridlocked across the city.
IBerkshires posts cancellations as soon as they are received; send cancellation or postponement notices to info@iberkshires.com.
