Berkshire Residents Snowed In For Long Weekend
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Many Berkshire County residents were snowed in for Presidents Day. Instead of buying large appliances, the long weekend was spent shoveling.
Pittsfield's second annual Winter Festival at Clapp Park fell victim to the storm, which dumped up to 6 inches of snow or more on higher-elevation communities. On Monday, the area was under a wind advisory until 7 p.m. for winds of 25 to 35 mph with gusts up to 65 mph.
The winter fest was postponed to Friday, Feb. 21, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The outdoor family event includes hot cocoa and s’mores, cardboard sled races, a snow sculpture contest, snowshoeing, and more.
Trash and recycling collection was also canceled in Pittsfield on Monday. For the remainder of the week, a one-day delay is in effect for all routes.
On Monday morning, the Monterey Fire Department reported that there were 177 National Grid customers in the town without power.
"The outages include a large area of Main Road near Bidwell Road, all of Hupi Woods Circle, and various parts of New Marlborough Road," the department wrote on Facebook.
"Please treat ALL downed wires as being live. Seek alternative routes if trees and wires are blocking the roadways."
Dalton residents also reported power outages on several streets and trees and lines down on Route 8 near Cheshire Reservoir caused detours in the morning.
On Sunday evening, Pittsfield reported a significant amount of rain mixed with some freezing rain. This caused localized flooding, "and with the expected drop in temperature to 15 degrees overnight we are in for a very challenging second half of this event."
"Our crews are working on mains, hills, and bridges ensuring ice accumulation is not an issue. We are also responding to and addressing flooding issues as they arise. Contractors are starting to come back from taking a break after a 12-hour shift. We currently have 10 on the road with 6 more coming in," the city wrote on Facebook.
"We are assigning multiple routes to several contractors in order to cover all neighborhoods. This however will result in longer completion times and we continue to ask for patience as we work on each route."
On Sunday, a utility pole was struck between Pecks Road and Vin Hebert Boulevard, closing the road to through traffic for some time.
"If you see the flashing blue lights with a cruiser parked across the road, the road is still closed," The Pittsfield Police Department posted on Facebook on Sunday.
Adams, North Adams and Pittsfield declared a snow emergencies over the weekend, banning overnight parking or, for Pittsfield, opposite parking.
"Please be reminded that all snow must be removed from sidewalks within 24 hours of the end of the storm per City Ordinance," the city of North Adams reminded residents on Facebook.
Great Barrington's transfer station also closed on Sunday due to the weather.
Tags: snow & ice,
