The last day of winter brought more winter for Northern Berkshire County on Tuesday, as the area saw midday accumulation and flurries that continued into the evening.
New England Weather Associates meteorologist John Hockridge said the storm capitalized on chilly conditions likely to persist throughout this month and early next.
"We're running about three degrees below the average temperature for this time of year [32.2 degrees]," Hockridge said Tuesday. "It looks like we'll continue at three or more degrees below the normal temperature for the rest of the month ... with several more opportunities for snow."
And so be it if this flies in the face of an earlier prognosis allegedly made by a certain Pennsylvania rodent.
Initial snowfall came in well short of the possible nine inches forecasted for late Monday and early Tuesday, but the storm stretched its legs into Tuesday, reviving before noon.
Many of the valley towns ended up seeing roughly six inches while accumulation was greater in the higher elevations, with Florida logging almost a foot.
"My guys are going to be tired and grouchy," said Glenn Burdick, Florida Director of Public Works, whose crew came in at midnight Tuesday. "We'll be back at it early [this] morning."
Burdick said the town's total snowfall this winter stands at under ten feet, below the average of nearly twelve. The town got buried in 17-and-a-half feet of snow over the course of
Schools were closed in Adams, Cheshire, Savoy, Florida and Stamford as a result of the forecast Monday, and others canceled afterschool functions.
The east coast of Massachusetts averaged slightly more snow, varying between six and ten inches, and the central counties were hit hardest, with some towns in Middlesex and Worcester counties reporting more than a foot of accumulation.
North Adams and other valley towns are scraping the bottom of the barrel in terms of their budgeted figures for sand and salt, according to local road crews.
"You use a lot of material and you can't help it," Timothy Lescarbeau, the city's Director of Public Works, said. "We're just about at the end if not over already."
The city budgeted more than $230,000 in fiscal 2013 for sand and salt.
Williamstown, Adams and Cheshire's respective accounts are in similar states.
But these expenditures of labor and funds have resulted in safe roads, as no major weather-related accidents have been reported in 2013.
A one-car accident versus a telephone pole on West Main Street at 10:35 p.m. on Monday resulted in wires down and a totaled vehicle. No injuries to the operator were reported in Monday's police blotter.
To reach Phil Demers, email
pdemers@thetranscript.com.
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