Snowstorm updates: Massachusetts latest town-by-town news

Parts of New England Tuesday evening remained under the grip of their first potent snowstorm of the season, a potent system that has caused slick road conditions and accidents, and prompted a number of school closures across Massachusetts and New Hampshire. About 2 to 6 inches of snow had fallen in Central and Western Mass. by Tuesday evening, with higher totals expected in northern ski country. Boston only saw rain. Winter storm warnings remain in effect into the overnight for those regions seeing the heaviest snow, from the Worcester Hills to the Berkshires.

Read our state-by-state forecasts here for how this storm will unfold in your area, and follow the Globe’s live updates below.

Western and Central Massachusetts are seeing lots of snow, but our cold rainstorm in Boston and the rest of Eastern Mass. continues into the evening hours with temperatures about as cold as it can get without wintry precipitation.

You probably noticed from roughly the Mass Pike north that there was some snow and sleet pellets at the onset whitening the ground and making roads a little bit slick around noon for a couple of hours.

If you compare what’s actually happening with what the models forecast, the biggest bust is with the temperatures. If you remember, the NAM model from yesterday was forecasting temperatures in the lower 40s across much of Eastern Massachusetts. This never happened. The European model was not quite as warm, but even it forecast Boston to be in the low 40s late this afternoon. The reality was that Logan Airport was about 6 degrees below that.

The storm itself is a little bit weaker than forecast at this point, and although it’s going to intensify rapidly later tonight, the coastal front with the marine air was unable to penetrate as far inland as expected. Sensibly, this doesn’t make a lot of difference because rain is rain, but it may make it a little bit easier for the precipitation to change over to a brief mix of snow and sleet before it ends mid- to late evening. Because of this, some towns, especially places like Framingham, Natick, Newton, Belmont, and even south into Medway and Millis, will have to treat the roads overnight. There’s an outside chance of a coating to 2 inches of snow in a few spots.

The bottom line is that this was not a snowstorm for Eastern Massachusetts. We will have to wait a while for that, but for the public works crews and meteorologists, alike, this was a good way to start the season.

— Dave Epstein

Tuesday’s snow, sleet, and rain continue to push across New England, setting up a rough evening commute.

As the region’s first big winter storm strengthens tonight, expect heavier bands of snow and rain to move through. Roads will be slick everywhere — whether it’s snow, a wintry mix, or cold rain — so plan for extra travel time.

Parts of Massachusetts and Northern New England could see an extra 3 to 6 inches of snow by 9 p.m., with the heaviest falling north of Route 2, west of I-495, and through the Berkshires. Worcester to Lowell may see another 1 to 3 inches, while places like Manchester, Concord, and Keene could pick up around 6 inches. Snow may fall at 1 to 2 inches per hour, cutting visibility fast.

Between I-95 and I-495, sleet and mixed precipitation will make roads just as tricky, even with temps in the 30s and 40s. Boston and areas south will stay mostly rainy, but heavier downpours could still cause some trouble spots. Winds will also pick up, with gusts around 20 to 25 mph, mainly in southeastern New England.

Stay safe out there — and take it slow getting home tonight.

There were already several car crashes related to the snowfall in Western Massachusetts on Tuesday afternoon, more than an hour before evening rush hour was set to begin.

Police in Pittsfield responded to six motor vehicle crashes over a period of about five hours on Tuesday, police Capt. Matt Hill said. The first crash happened when snow began to fall around 10:30 a.m., he said.

Hill said he was not surprised by the high number of crashes. “It’s always the first big storm where we do have more accidents than usual,” Hill said.

All six of the Pittsfield crashes occurred on “secondary roads,” according to Hill.

Also, an afternoon crash shut down the Mass Pike’s westbound in Russell, just west of Springfield, according to the Mass. Department of Transportation. The extent of injuries was unclear. Traffic had to be detoured via I-90 Exit 41. A tractor-trailer earlier in the day swerved on the slick highway and jackknifed in Lee.

There were also two crashes in Amherst on Tuesday, but officials there could not confirm whether they were related to the storm.

Hill urged drivers to stay off the roads “unless absolutely necessary,” and to use extreme caution if driving is unavoidable.

Similarly, State Police spokesperson Tim McGuirk said people commuting home after work on Tuesday should take extra care. McGuirk said state police could not provide data on highway crashes on Tuesday.

“For your safety, please wear a seatbelt, respect the Commonwealth’s hands-free laws, and leave extra time in your journey,” McGuirk said.

— Claire Thornton

New Hampshire state troopers had responded to 60 crashes or vehicles off the road and 13 disabled vehicles by mid-afternoon Tuesday, according to a state police spokesperson. They urged drivers to adjust their speed for conditions and allow for extra time while traveling during the storm.

— Amanda Gokee, Globe Staff

With in-person classes canceled on Tuesday due to the weather, University of New Hampshire students Trina Moffett and Mia Gocal made the 5-mile trek from the Durham campus to one of their favorite coffee shops, Crackskull’s Coffee & Books in Newmarket, N.H., to study for next week’s final exams.

Moffett, a junior nursing major from Pennsylvania, and Gocal, a senior occupational therapy major from Massachusetts, said some classes met online and others assigned tasks for students to complete remotely. As snowplows in the Seacoast region worked to keep pace Tuesday afternoon with the falling snow, Moffett and Gocal said the roadways and sidewalks in the area seemed fairly clear, so UNH could have responded less cautiously to the weather.

“They definitely could have had classes,” Gocal said. “I mean, you see everyone is driving just fine.” Still, they’re not complaining. “It was nice to have a break, honestly,” Moffett said university leaders also canceled in-person classes at UNH’s Manchester campus, where forecasts called for heavier snowfall.

— Steven Porter, Globe Staff

As this winter storm continues to roll through New England, bands of heavier snow have started moving through the region, with many areas picking up a lot more inches.

About 3 to 7 inches have fallen across portions of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, while a few spots across Massachusetts west of I-495 have reached up to 3 inches. Those areas include Springfield, Ludlow, and Hampden. Otis in the Berkshires tallied 6 inches. Areas in northwest Connecticut have also racked up between 1 and 3 inches. Still, Arlington, Vt., in the southern edge of the state, holds the top spot for highest snowfall so far, with over 6 inches.

More shots of moderate to heavy snow are expected as the afternoon progresses, until around 6 p.m., mainly in Massachusetts along Route 2 and then west from I-95 through Worcester County to Berkshire County, reducing visibility along the way.

Temperatures range from the mid-30s to the mid-40s from Boston and areas south, holding precipitation to rain across the city, down to the Cape, and west to Providence.

New Hampshire officials issued a winter travel advisory, and officials in the state’s second-largest city declared a snow emergency as parts of the state braced for up to 7 inches of snow or more.

The snow emergency in Nashua, in effect starting 10 p.m., Tuesday, and lasting until 6 a.m., Wednesday, allows city public works crews to clear primary routes first, leaving residential side streets and sidewalks until later. Also, no parking will be allowed on the street or in municipal parking lots.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for the Nashua area and the rest of southern New Hampshire. City officials warned of potentially poor visibility and asked people to stay off the roads for their safety, if possible.

The state’s travel advisory caps speed limits at 45 mph on several major highways around the state:

• I-89, from New London to the Vermont border.

• I-93, from Concord to Tilton, and from Manchester/Hooksett to Salem.

• All of I-293, NH-101, and Everett Turnpike from Manchester to Nashua.

The latest road conditions are available online at newengland511.org.

Troopers responded to 21 reports of crashes or vehicles off the road and two disabled vehicles, between 7 a.m. and midday Tuesday, according to the New Hampshire State Police. They urged drivers to adjust their speed for conditions and allow for extra time while traveling during the storm.

In Massachusetts, the Department of Transportation ordered the speed limit reduced to 40 miles per hour on a 60-mile stretch of the Mass Pike, from the New York State line to Mile Marker 59 in Ludlow, just east of Springfield.

– Amanda Gokee, Globe Staff

Talk about a fast mover! Less than 15 hours ago, the main core of this coastal storm was developing over the Gulf Coast between Louisiana and the Florida Panhandle. At 9 this morning, it was over the Carolinas and is expected to race through New England by 9 p.m. Tuesday night, traversing nearly 1,000 miles in less than 12 hours.

Basically, energy between contrasting air masses found the least path of resistance in the atmosphere, commonly along a frontal boundary, and surged up the coast while collecting moisture from the Gulf and the Atlantic along the way. That allowed this system to become better organized and expand. Leading-edge snow bands reached New England before the core of the storm passed Washington, DC.

If it weren’t for the speedy nature of the storm, this weather would be a completely different story for New Englanders. Boston would be seeing flooding rainfall while the interior portions of our region would be dealing with several feet of snow, but thankfully, that’s not the case, and this storm will remain a low to moderate storm across the region.

Snowfall reports are beginning to trickle in across the region as some of the steady snow pushes into Western Massachusetts and Northern New England. Arlington in southern Vermont has seen over a half foot of snow so far on Tuesday, while a widespread 1 to 3 inches has fallen in that region.

Along the Vermont-New Hampshire border, just south of Lebanon, between 3 and 5 inches of snow has fallen, including across Claremont and Newport, N.H.

This coastal storm has produced about an inch of snow for parts of Massachusetts from around I-495 heading west. Pittsfield, North Adams, Ashfield, and the northwest corner of the state have seen at least an inch so far. But the heavier snow bands (and rain east toward Boston) are still to come.

A tractor-trailer swerved and jackknifed on the Mass Pike (Interstate 90) Tuesday morning due to the snow and slippery road conditions, especially west of Interstate 495. The truck was heading west when it swerved into the upcoming lanes in Lee, in the Berkshires.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation ordered the speed limit reduced to 40 miles per hour on a 60-mile stretch of the Mass Pike, from the New York State line to Mile Marker 59 in Ludlow, just east of Springfield.

In New Hampshire, the speed limit has been reduced to 45 miles per hour on I-89 (from New London to the Vermont border); I-93 (from Hooksett to Concord. and from Tilton to Ashland.

Over the last week, forecast models paired with other weather data and observations have nudged the higher snowfall totals more westward and farther inland across New England for our current coastal storm.

Boston was originally slotted to see a couple of inches at first, then maybe just a couple of snowflakes before switching to plain cold rain for Tuesday into early Wednesday. What made this happen? It was a classic tug-of-war between a decently strong area of high pressure over New England on Monday versus a developing storm that was racing up the coast from the Deep South. Ultimately, the coastal storm won with positioning and moved closer and will pass almost directly over Boston.

With the counter-clockwise circulation of storms in the Northern Hemisphere, having the core of the system pass over us allows the warmer sector to funnel into the region, meaning more rain. If the high pressure had lingered just a bit longer, or would have just been a touch more dense, then the core of our current storm would have stayed more over the ocean, with the northern and western edges of the storm passing through our region and delivering snow instead of rain. That would’ve also made this system a classic nor’easter setup since the winds would’ve been from the northeast and drawing in colder air from Canada instead of warm air from the south.

There’s also this: It’s Dec. 2, and despite the cold air at the surface, it’s still plenty warm enough to melt any snowflakes when they hit the ground and also in the mid-levels of the atmosphere, where there is plenty of air mixing. Also, an ocean effect flow (winds from the south) is warming the atmosphere across extreme Southern and Southeastern New England, and along the rest of the coastline.

More than 50 school districts in Massachusetts and New Hampshire closed in anticipation of Tuesday’s snowstorm, the biggest single winter storm to hit the region so far this season. Some evening classes and programs have also been canceled.

Here’s an updated list of closures across the region.

Ken Mahan can be reached at ken.mahan@globe.com. Follow him on Instagram @kenmahantheweatherman.