Snowstorm Prompts Snow Emergencies, Cancellations

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This delightful paragraph arrived Saturday morning from the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency:

"The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) is advising the public that weather forecasters are expecting a winter storm to impact travel across the Commonwealth beginning Saturday evening and continuing throughout Sunday. Heavy wet snow is expected to begin falling on Saturday evening, transition to freezing rain and sleet in some areas on Sunday, and be followed by a flash freeze on Sunday afternoon and evening. The public is advised to minimize travel if possible, make smart decisions if driving, and be mindful of potentially hazardous travel conditions due to the mixture in various geographic locations of rain, ice, snow and sleet."

Lots of new maps showed up on Friday to give everyone some idea of the snowpocalypse headed our way. Check out Greylock Snow Day's entertaining critique of all these colorful weather maps. 
 
Also, we're getting lots of notices of local snow emergencies. We're not going to list them all because you should know by now that if you leave your car parked on the street during a snowstorm, it's likely to get towed. 
 
Cancellations, postponements: 
  • Boys & Girls Club of the Berkshires will be closed, all activities canceled, for Sunday, Jan. 20.
  • Greylock Together meeting for Sunday is canceled.
  • Blackinton Union Church's 10 a.m. service Sunday is canceled.
  • Williams College Museum of Art is closed on Sunday.
  • Berkshire Museum closed Sunday.
  • Norman Rockwell Museum closed Sunday.
 
The National Weather Service on Friday posted a winter storm warning from Saturday at 4 p.m. through Sunday at 4 p.m. with total snow accumulations of 12 to 20 inches. Travel could be "very difficult to impossible" (!) because of heavy snow. Sunday will worsen with wind gusts of up to 30 mph, blowing and drifting snow and wind-chills below zero. 
 
Pittsfield, at the moment, is projected to get anywhere from 13 inches to 21 inches of snow; Great Barrington 10 to 18; and Bennington, Vt., 15 to 21. Temperatures will be barely into the 20s over the weekend before taking a deep dip.
 
A preview of the weekend storm will blow through the Berkshires on Thursday night, dropping anywhere from a half-inch to 2 inches of snow overnight.
 
Accuweather says it's a "one-two punch of snow and cold" this weekend as multiple weather systems roll over the Northeast. The blizzard on Saturday could cause severe blowing and drifting, and whiteouts as snowfall rates could reach 2-3 inches an hour in some locations. 
 
The northwest corner of the state is in the zone for the most accumulation, up to 24 inches according to Accuweather, with some parts of South County in line for only a foot or so. Most of central and Eastern New York, Massachusetts and Southern Vermont are in the zone for the heaviest amount of snow. 
 
This will cause treacherous travel conditions, flight delays and flash freezes, particularly on the eastern end of the state.
 
The major storm is coming in over a three-day holiday weekend so schools and other public offices will be closed, as well as businesses observing the holiday.
 
Right now we're rating the Thursday-Friday snow as a warm cup of cocoa ☕; the weekend, that's a full alert loaf of bread, a gallon of milk and a dozen eggs! 🍞🥛🥚
 
We'll be running updates to this article as needed through the weekend.

Tags: severe weather,   snowstorm,   

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Macksey Updates on Eagle Street Demo and Myriad City Projects

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff

The back of Moderne Studio in late January. The mayor said the city had begun planning for its removal if the owner could not address the problems. 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Moderne Studio building is coming down brick by brick on Eagle Street on the city's dime. 
 
Concerns over the failing structure's proximity to its neighbor — just a few feet — means the demolition underway is taking far longer than usual. It's also been delayed somewhat because of recent high winds and weather. 
 
The city had been making plans for the demolition a month ago because of the deterioration of the building, Mayor Jennifer Macksey told the City Council on Tuesday. The project was accelerated after the back of the 150-year-old structure collapsed on March 5
 
Initial estimates for demolition had been $190,000 to $210,000 and included asbestos removal. Those concerns have since been set aside after testing and the mayor believes that the demolition will be lower because it is not a hazardous site.
 
"We also had a lot of contractors who came to look at it for us to not want to touch it because of the proximity to the next building," she said. "Unfortunately time ran out on that property and we did have the building failure. 
 
"And it's an unfortunate situation. I think most of us who have lived here our whole lives and had our pictures taken there and remember being in the window so, you know, we were really hoping the building could be safe."
 
Macksey said the city had tried working with the owner, who could not find a contractor to demolish the building, "so we found one for him."
 
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