This storm dropped nearly 2 feet of snow on Mass., but was it officially a blizzard?
Sunday's whopper of a snowstorm pounded the region and dropped more than 20 inches of powder in some communities.
But did it meet the specific requirements to be declared a blizzard?
"The short answer is no," Francis Tarasiewicz, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service's regional office in Norton, said.
The agency defines a blizzard as a storm with a large amount of snow or blowing snow, with at least three hours of winds over 35 mph and visibility under a quarter-mile.
"There certainly were periods of time" when those conditions were in place, Tarasiewicz said. "But the duration wasn't long enough to be classified as a blizzard."
"We were very close," he added. "Especially along the Cape and Islands. You could say 'blizzard-like' conditions."
Blizzard or not, Sunday's storm delivered.
Across the state, residents on Monday morning were digging out driveways, sidewalks and cars from under mounds of fresh powder.
Boston logged 18.6 inches of snow, its most since the 23.6 inches that fell Jan. 28-29, 2022. That was the last time the city reached blizzard conditions, Tarasiewicz said.
Worcester also recorded 18.6 inches, according to weather service data.
The highest measured accumulation in the state came in Sterling, a few miles north of Worcester, where the weather service reported 22.2 inches.
Periods of light to moderate snow will continue through Monday night. The weather service said the state could expect roughly 1–4 inches of new snow before 1 a.m. Tuesday.
Meteorologists forecast 1-2 inches in much of Central Massachusetts, Western Massachusetts and Cape Cod, and 3-4 inches in Greater Boston.
Additional snow on Monday possibleNational Weather Service
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