Rain, sleet, snow and wind in western Massachusetts as winter takes one more swing

New England Public Media | By NEPM Newsroom

Published April 3, 2024 at 4:37 PM EDT

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Drivers in Springfield, Massachusetts, on Wednesday afternoon dealt with rain, but much of the region braced for sleet and even snow as an early spring storm began to roll through western Massachusetts.

Sam Hudzik

An early spring storm is hitting the Northeast on Wednesday into Thursday afternoon — and the effects in western Massachusetts are forecast to vary widely by location.

As of 3 p.m. Wednesday, the northern Berkshires and hill towns in Franklin and Hampshire counties faced a winter storm warning until early Friday morning.

In the higher elevations, "we could be looking at 4-8 inches of total accumulation of snow and sleet in that area, with temperatures around freezing," National Weather Service meteorologist Hayden Frank said. "So you get up into the high terrain, travel will be difficult."

Eastern Franklin County as well as the southern Berkshires are under a winter weather advisory, with between 1 and 4 inches of snow and sleet in the forecast.

It's a different story in lower elevations, where the forecast calls for mainly rain mixed with sleet.

"That's not really going to impact travel too much," Frank said. "It'll be kind of one of those situations where you're driving in your car and you see the sleet pellets, but temperatures are well above freezing so it's not causing any issues on the roads."

Power outages are also a concern, due to that accumulation, as well as wind.

See the latest forecasts from the National Weather Service for <a href="https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=42.102051&lon=-72.585757" target="_blank" link-data="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000179-e6da-d020-adfd-e7de0b110000","_type":"ae3387cc-b875-31b7-b82d-63fd8d758c20"},"cms.content.publishDate":1712172028223,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"0000017d-241a-d4a4-ab7d-6c5faa400000","_type":"6aa69ae1-35be-30dc-87e9-410da9e1cdcc"},"cms.content.updateDate":1712172028223,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"0000017d-241a-d4a4-ab7d-6c5faa400000","_type":"6aa69ae1-35be-30dc-87e9-410da9e1cdcc"},"cms.directory.paths":[],"anchorable.showAnchor":false,"link":{"attributes":[],"cms.directory.paths":[],"linkText":"Chicopee","target":"NEW","attachSourceUrl":false,"url":"https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=42.102051&lon=-72.585757","_id":"0000018e-a567-d2e5-a9ef-b7e7528d0001","_type":"ff658216-e70f-39d0-b660-bdfe57a5599a"},"_id":"0000018e-a567-d2e5-a9ef-b7e7528d0000","_type":"809caec9-30e2-3666-8b71-b32ddbffc288"}">Chicopee</a>, <a href="https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=42.5879&lon=-72.6003" target="_blank" link-data="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000179-e6da-d020-adfd-e7de0b110000","_type":"ae3387cc-b875-31b7-b82d-63fd8d758c20"},"cms.content.publishDate":1712172056683,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"0000017d-241a-d4a4-ab7d-6c5faa400000","_type":"6aa69ae1-35be-30dc-87e9-410da9e1cdcc"},"cms.content.updateDate":1712172056683,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"0000017d-241a-d4a4-ab7d-6c5faa400000","_type":"6aa69ae1-35be-30dc-87e9-410da9e1cdcc"},"cms.directory.paths":[],"anchorable.showAnchor":false,"link":{"attributes":[],"cms.directory.paths":[],"linkText":"Orange","target":"NEW","attachSourceUrl":false,"url":"https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=42.5879&lon=-72.6003","_id":"0000018e-a568-deb6-a58f-af7c30010000","_type":"ff658216-e70f-39d0-b660-bdfe57a5599a"},"_id":"0000018e-a568-deb6-a58f-af7c30000000","_type":"809caec9-30e2-3666-8b71-b32ddbffc288"}">Orange</a>, <a href="https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=42.7005&lon=-73.1087" target="_blank" link-data="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000179-e6da-d020-adfd-e7de0b110000","_type":"ae3387cc-b875-31b7-b82d-63fd8d758c20"},"cms.content.publishDate":1712172083747,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"0000017d-241a-d4a4-ab7d-6c5faa400000","_type":"6aa69ae1-35be-30dc-87e9-410da9e1cdcc"},"cms.content.updateDate":1712172083747,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"0000017d-241a-d4a4-ab7d-6c5faa400000","_type":"6aa69ae1-35be-30dc-87e9-410da9e1cdcc"},"cms.directory.paths":[],"anchorable.showAnchor":false,"link":{"attributes":[],"cms.directory.paths":[],"linkText":"North Adams","target":"NEW","attachSourceUrl":false,"url":"https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=42.7005&lon=-73.1087","_id":"0000018e-a568-df90-a78e-e57f9c4b0000","_type":"ff658216-e70f-39d0-b660-bdfe57a5599a"},"_id":"0000018e-a568-df90-a78e-e57f9c4a0000","_type":"809caec9-30e2-3666-8b71-b32ddbffc288"}">North Adams</a> and <a href="https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=42.445&lon=-73.2528" target="_blank" link-data="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000179-e6da-d020-adfd-e7de0b110000","_type":"ae3387cc-b875-31b7-b82d-63fd8d758c20"},"cms.content.publishDate":1712172105641,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"0000017d-241a-d4a4-ab7d-6c5faa400000","_type":"6aa69ae1-35be-30dc-87e9-410da9e1cdcc"},"cms.content.updateDate":1712172105641,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"0000017d-241a-d4a4-ab7d-6c5faa400000","_type":"6aa69ae1-35be-30dc-87e9-410da9e1cdcc"},"cms.directory.paths":[],"anchorable.showAnchor":false,"link":{"attributes":[],"cms.directory.paths":[],"linkText":"Pittsfield","target":"NEW","attachSourceUrl":false,"url":"https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=42.445&lon=-73.2528","_id":"0000018e-a568-d53c-a99e-f7faefae0001","_type":"ff658216-e70f-39d0-b660-bdfe57a5599a"},"_id":"0000018e-a568-d53c-a99e-f7faefae0000","_type":"809caec9-30e2-3666-8b71-b32ddbffc288"}">Pittsfield</a>.

"For the most part, we'll be looking at gusts 35 to 50 miles per hours," Frank said. "The strongest of those is going to be later this evening into the early morning hours tomorrow."

Still, the winds are not so strong that Frank is hugely concerned.

"We've seen this quite a bit during the winter season," he said, "so that's not too unusual."