image description

Storm System Could Bring Region's First Nor'easter of Season

Print Story | Email Story
The dusting of snow the Berkshires got on Wednesday — after enjoying temperatures in the high 50s the days before —may have been a warning of things to come. 
 
The National Weather Service in Albany, N.Y., has posted a winter storm watch for the Berkshires this weekend and some forecasters say this could be the first Nor'easter of the season. 
 
"It looks like as we go forward we are going to see a strengthening storm coming up the Eastern Seaboard, but the forecasting dilemma, and it always is, is the exact track of the storm," AccuWeather Chief Broadcast Meteorologist Bernie Rayno said on Thursday.
 
NWS is warning of heavy snow and accumulations of 6 inches or more in the Berkshires and Southern Vermont. The storm is expected to hit Saturday morning and run through Sunday morning. Travel could be difficult because of covered roadways and low visibility. 
 
The storm will organize Friday as a system that brought snow to the Midwest earlier this week pushes warmer air toward the coast as it moves south and the jet stream dips below the Great Lakes, adding more fuel. Rain and thunderstorms will cover most of the coast and as far west as Nashville and Cincinnati. The precipitation will turn to snow as the storm system moves northeast on Friday night. 
 
Accuweather reports that "forecasters will also be monitoring for the potential for this storm to go through the process of bombogenesis, or a rapid strengthening that occurs when the central barometric pressure of a storm plummets by 0.71 of an inch of mercury (24 millibars) within 24 hours. When a storm undergoes this level of intensification, it is referred to as a bomb cyclone."
 
If the storm intensifies, it could drop up to a foot of snow across Northern Berkshire and Southern Vermont and be accompanied by high winds that could cause power outages across the region.
 

Tags: snowstorm,   

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

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."
 
View Full Story

More North Adams Stories