Nor'easter hits New England, a weekend of snow for Boston

December 22, 6:12 PMBoston Happenings ExaminerAnthony Crowe

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Photo courtesy AP Photo/Steven Senne

Massachusetts has been hit with quite a bit of snow since the most recent set of storms began last Friday.

While the estimates seem conservative - and tend to dissect the amount from each storm - the result was a hearty amount of snow, particularly for so early in the winter. Speaking with local residents citywide - from Brighton to Dorchester - the general concensus is roughly 15" between both storms.

Residents around the city have noted that the storm is nothing too out of the ordinary for New England. One man in Quincy, digging out his small single-space driveway on Saturday was called by a passing pedestrian who joked: "It's that scenic New England weather," to which he replied laughing, "You've got to love it!" Such are the exchanges taking place all over the area this weekend.

The snowfall certainly ushered in the beginning of winter for many across the region. Maine and New Hampshire were hit particularly hard as the storms manifested as a bonafide nor'easter and smaller ice storms. As reported by Boston.com, the town of Eustis, Maine was covered by nearly 42" of snow in less than 24 hours... which is quite a bit even by New England's standards! Records were set for the dates in both Concord, New Hampshire as well as Portland, Maine.

On Sunday, the areas north of Boston seemed to accumulate the most snowfall with the National Weather Service reporting nearly 13" in Lowell, and over 12" in Methuen, Winchester, and Billerica each.

Possibly the most difficult problem facing New England over the weekend have been the pervasive power outages which have had utility companies working around the clock despite the harsh weather.

New Hampshire had already been working on restoring electricity for over 10,000 customers after a previous ice storm (December 11-12) had knocked out electrical power to nearly 450,000 homes and businesses; it was the worst ice storm in the state's history. As of Monday, Boston.com reports "1,200 line crews and tree-cutting crews were picking away at remaining power outages in New Hampshire."

There has certainly been some progress for local communities. Worcester, having spent over a week recovering from massive power outages, following ice storms as well, finally saw power restored on Sunday.

Other areas of the state have not been as lucky, as more than 1,000 Fitchburg residents still wait in the dark without heat. Utility workers have been diligently working on the problem, addressing the estimated 2,500 service outages across Fitchburg, Lunenburg, Townsend, and Ashby.

As folks across New Hampshire and nearby Fitchburg are still waiting for the power to come back on, some of us will just have to consider ourselves lucky, and find places to put all this snow.