Massachusetts winter weather: Worcester County receives snow jackpot, cold temps on way

Worcester County received the jackpot of the first snowstorm to barrel through Massachusetts of the season, while the entire Bay State braces for some of the coldest temperatures yet.

Roughly 20 communities in Worcester County recorded at least 5 inches of snow Wednesday into Thursday, with residents in Hardwick (9.2″), Sturbridge (8.3″) and Spencer (8″) digging out from at least three-quarters of a foot, according to the National Weather Service.

Around a dozen towns and cities in Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden counties also saw over 5 inches of snow.

Communities in eastern Massachusetts didn’t get a picturesque winter wonderland, with Boston totaling just 0.2 inches, the NWS snowfall figures showed Thursday evening.

As skies have cleared, residents will be bundling up Friday as the region will feel “much colder.”

The weather service is forecasting winds to range between 18 to 21 mph, with gusts as high as 36 mph, in Boston, making it hard for Massachusetts’ largest city to crack above freezing. The high temperature is expected to be just 33 degrees.

“Lows in the teens to mid-20s should be common,” the NWS’ forecast discussion stated Thursday evening. “However it will feel like the mid-teens to single digits above zero, with the coldest readings in the hills in Worcester County and the Berkshires into the early Friday morning timeframe.”

Massachusetts had a warmer and less snowy 2023-24 winter. The Boston region saw only 9.8 inches of snow, setting the record for the third lightest winter snowfall after 1936-37 and 2011-12. The average Boston snowfall is 49.2 inches.

Boston is likely to see more snowfall this year, but remain below the average, at 30 to 40 inches of snow predicted, according to AccuWeather