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Weather Advisory: Snow, Rain, Wind on the Way

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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Hope everyone enjoyed Wednesday's blue skies and Thursday's warmer temperatures because a "bomb cyclone" is about to go off. 
 
Accuweather is reporting that a strengthening storm could bring rain, snow and high winds into the Northeast this weekend. The storm would have to drop in barometric pressure over 24 hours to reach bomb cyclone level. "This storm may reach that criteria as it moves northward and intensifies from Thursday evening near Delmarva to Friday evening in southern Maine," according to Accuweather.
 
The Berkshires isn't yet listed as being in the snow zone but neighboring counties in New York and Vermont are now under a winter storm watch from Thursday night through Saturday morning. (Southern Berkshire was added to the advisory Thursday afternoon.)
 
The National Weather Service says heavy, wet snow of up to 7 inches is possible in the higher elevations of Southern Vermont and predicts 2 to 3 inches could fall over the Berkshires. 
 
And where there's no snow, there could be torrential rains and danger of flooding. 
 
Wind gusts could reach 40 to 50 mph or more. The last windstorm that roared through the county knocked down numerous trees, ripped off shingles and left hundreds without power, especially in North Berkshire. 
 
But there's good news ahead: later next week should see temperatures rising into the 50s, a sure sign that spring will finally bloom. Here's hoping March goes out like a lamb.
 
 

Tags: bad weather,   snowstorm,   

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North Adams Council Votes $55M Budget

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The $55 million fiscal 2027 budget approved by the City Council on Tuesday had been cut by $298,000, as of Monday.
 
The proposed fiscal 2027 spending plan is $54,964,135.99, up 5 percent over this year. The Finance Committee gave a final recommendation of the draft on Monday.
 
Of the amount approved, nearly $24 million comes from state aid (minus $4.5 million in charges), $9.5 million from local receipts, and $25 million through taxation. 
 
Mayor Jennifer Macksey told the Finance Committee, as it was giving its final look at the plan, that she'd made cuts on previously recommended budget lines. The budget has been under review for several weeks. 
 
"We were trending at $1.8 million that we were closing the gap on, and then it became evident that we couldn't push any more really on local receipts," she said. "The team really took a deep dive into what can we really survive without. ... I feel like we, as an administration, tightened up a lot, but we are trying to keep the budget in balance."
 
The reductions, use of $663,000 in reserves and accounts sitting outside the general fund, will be used to close the gap, along with an anticipated $1.1 million more in local receipts.
 
"We have the reserve, we should use it. It's hard to both on the city side and on the school side, you know, to say to a taxpayer, your taxes are going to go up, we have spread out this $2 million and we're sitting on a savings account for $2 million right?" the mayor said.
 
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