Final Word - An interesting storm indeed. Compared to the initial forecast, the expected snowfall amounts were quite close, however, the means to the accumulations were a little different. This system intensified rapidly, but moved offshore and up the Gulf of Maine a little too quickly. This would have seemed to limit snowfall production in the Pioneer Valley, but we benefitted by a palpaple snow intensity. It takes some activity to get 6"-12" of snow to drop in 6-8 hours. Going forward into the night-hours, this snow is just going to lean on all the powerlines and trees with all it's mass...and we could certainly see even more reports of power outages and downed limbs. At the moment, the consistency of the snow is such that you can easily slide it along the ground for shovel removal. However, you certainly should plan to clear off what you need to before the overnight hours, as snow with such a high water content can turn to ice with tonight's expected temperatures near 20.

Keep in mind that with all prolonged storm events here at CBS 3 Springfield, you can continuously monitor the weather as it develops by using the various products available in our Forecast Center and our Current Conditions Page. Also, you can catch all the local weather information you need streamed 24 hours a day by hooking up to our Weather Now webstream. We also love hearing from you! If you have weather-related information to pass along from your location, simply email it to us! it's very helpful. We enjoy receiving pictures of weather and Western Mass scenery (videos too!), so if you shoot it, Send It!

9:00 AM - Snowfall begins to let up across the Pioneer Valley, but we'll still be in and out of the flakes for the next several hours. Most of the accumulating snows have now retreated to the higher elevations, and also eastward to the Worcester Hills. A widespread swath of 6"- 10" snows for the area, all in about 6 hours' time.

Continue to be safe out there, as the weight of the snow pushes more power lines and tree branches down.

You can continue to follow this storm by Radar, by the Current Conditions Page, and by watching the 24/7 Weather Now online webstream. Also, if you take a picture of the snow, or interacting with the weather, send it to us! We love to look at them. A nice, quick, compact storm to get us thinking about Winter...just in time too...Once we get to Thursday of this week, we'll be staring down at what could be yet another snow event.

8:00 AM - With the heavy snow falling (and now starting to let up a little bit) comes the thought of removing it off the driveways and steps. First thing to realize: It is 'heavy' snow. Take a lot of breaks as you work your back out this afternoon. We've already received several reports of trees down and power outages. Here's a few just in to us:

- Trees blocking a road in Agawam.
- Memorial Ave in West Springfield blocked for a time by fallen trees.
- Large limbs and wires down on Amostown Rd. in West Springfield.
- Trees and wires down at the Franklin/Shephard intersection in Westfield.

Lots of things to avoid as you make  your way around today. Fortunately, schools are closed, so a lot of us can just stay in and think about hot chocolate.

7:00 AM - More folks waking up to a blanket of white...and actually sticking a ruler in to measure it:

Sunderland... 8.0"
Westfield... 8.0"
Northampton... 8.0"
Westhampton... 7.1"
Longmeadow... 5.0"

Note the snowfall rates maintaining their intensity. If you have anything to report weather-wise, send it in!

6:30 AM - The snow is coming down at a pretty good clip, and even though we don't see this continuing but for a few more hours, new totals coming in underscore the reality:

Burlington, CT...  6.5"
Collinsville, CT...  5.7"
Amherst...  4.5"

On the Current Surface Pressure map, comparing it to just a few hours ago, this system continues to rapidly intensify (regardless whether it's pulling away from us or not). Anytime a storm near Cape Cod deepens by more than 1 millibar per hour for several hours like this one, it attains the realm of the classic 'noreaster'. One bit of separation from a real 'blizzard', is that the winds are not that cumbersome. Current Wind Gusts map shows 20-25 miles per hour - sorta bland if I do say so myself.

6:00 AM - As you get ready for that morning commute, make sure you get the snow off 'all' of 'all' your windows. None of these little 'arm-circles off the driver's side of the windshield. The snow is dense, so the defroster isn't going to get it done. Some recent snow reports:

North Canaan, CT...  4.8"
Northampton...  4.0"
Longmeadow...  2.8"
Worcester...  2.3"

Some of these totals reflect inch-per-hour or greater snowfall rates. This activity will continue for the next several hours, however, judging from Current Radar imagery, this storm is thrusting itself out to sea, and will attempt to take much of its moisture with it. This will have the largest impact west of the Worcester Hills, as the mountains do a good job of shadowing the valley from ocean-generated inflow.

There are plenty of continually updating weather maps of all facets to keep tabs on this Winter storm, along with webcams and the hourly summary of local weather...all in our Current Conditions Page.

Don't like clicking? And you want it all streamed infront of you? Check out our Live, 24/7 Weather Now web-stream. It's got all you need!


5:00 AM - If you've been following along on the Current Surface Pressure maps and with the 3-Hour Pressure Change maps, it's pretty clear that this intensification off the coastline has been rather rapid. Snowfall rates can approach or exceed an inch-per-hour in many areas into the morning commute (so be careful)...However, it's also evident that the center of this system (indicated by the region of lowest pressure) is already pushing to the east, over and soon to be past the Cape. Once this system crosses into open waters, it becomes harder and harder to push moisture in from the ocean all the way across the Worcester Hills, to get it to fall in the Pioneer Valley with intensity. But...we can still expect steady snowfall, possibly through to lunchtime before beginning to taper off.

If you have an accumulation total, or something to report about the weather...Send it in! Also, we take any and all weather pictures you might email us. School closings are still being streamed on-air, and on-line as well. Be careful when heading out to work this morning.

Some other reported accumulations:

North Canaan, CT...  2.8"
Thomaston, CT...  2.0"
Litchfield, CT...  1.3"
Albany, NY... 0.6"

4:00 AM - The snowfall is coming down pretty good in the closest proximity to the rain/snow line. This is often the case in these storms, because you're closer to the axis of best moisture...But, it's always a tenuous position, as a sudden jog of track, or a slight bit of warming at some altitude level, and it's rain and melting for you. Nevertheless, here are some accumulations already coming in so far for a storm just a few hours old for the local area:

Burlington, CT...   3.0"
Avon, CT...   2.5"
East Granby, CT...  1.5"
Union, CT...  1.0"

3:00 AM - It should be noted that not everywhere did this storm start off as a snow event. In some areas we began as sleet, and in others even a drizzly rain. Just scanning the "Hourly Roundup" of temperatures and conditions around the state, there are many places reporting temperatures above freezing. Our updating map of Local Current Temperatures bears this out as well. So then, how can, at the same exact surface temperature, several different types of precipitation be seen? This is due to our 3-dimensional atmosphere. Going up in elevation would yield much different temperature readings (and obviously that means any precipitation falling from a cloud can experience many things on its way to the surface. However, we don't have floating-in-place thermometers always ready to go to give us all this coveted information overhead everytime we need it. But we have another tool at our disposal: the "Wet-Bulb Temperature".

When water evaporates (or when ice melts), there's a cooling effect on the environment, beceause a smidgen of warmth that just-so-happend to be in the air at the time has instead entered the water to turn it from liquid to water vapor (or from ice to liquid). There is a point at which no additional water can be evaporated into the air (because that would be the moment of saturation) and thus no additional cooling would take place. In an unsaturated airmass, the Wet-Bulb Temperature would provide us with a great peek into how the atmosphere (specifically temperature) would progress, given falling precipitation saturating it. Our Wet-Bulb Temperature map also has a special line on it denoting the 32-degree 'freezing point', which allows us to deduct a possible 'rain/snow line'. So, even though temperatures in Western Massachusetts at this hour are above freezing, the wet-bulb temperatures are below freezing...This implies that the falling snowflakes are doing the job of cooling the atmosphere (and eachother) as they quickly fall to Earth. Ironically, if the flakes were to fall slower, or in lighter intensity, the system can sometimes break down, and even fallen snow will melt as flurries are helpless to stop it. In the warmer wet-bulb temperature areas, it's clear that the air has already saturated, so there's no more evaporative cooling that can take place, and thus you're playing with the hand you're dealt at that point...and it's usually rain/sleet in strong storms like these.

2:00 AM - The snow has just started to make it's way noticeably into Western Massachusetts. It actually took a little bit before the air got saturated enough to permit flakes to make it to the ground without evaporating into the air. The Current Relative Humidity image will quickly fill up toward 100% at the surface when these flakes are coming down to stick.

When the snow starts to fall in your neighborhood, you can follow along the 'bigger picture', by looking at our Current Radar, or you can see what's going on in other areas by watching the various Weather WebCams in our Current Conditions Page.

As always, if you have a weather report, accumulation, etc. to send in...Send It! It's very helpful. Pictures are also welcome, and you can see past viewer-submitted storm pictures in our Weather Gallery.

First Word - We've been watching this one for a few days now, even though the storm itself really didn't exist until a short while ago. This is a classic 'noreaster format, with anticipated strong intensification of a low-pressure center just off the New Jersey coastline, then tracking northeastward toward Cape Cod and the Islands. Often meteorologists in New England will talk of a 'benchmark' of 70/40. This refers to a coordinate of 70W, 40N (Long/Lat)...I suppose they could call it '40/70', but for some reason it doesn't roll off the tongue the same way...Anyway, approaching 'noreasters, if they pass to the north of this benchmark, it's a good bet that the coastline and SE of the major highways will mix over to rain because there's too much warm air riding too close to the region. If a storm travels south of the benchmark, it usually means sufficient cold air will remain in place, but most of the best moisture and lift will remain off-shore, unable to stretch into much of Southern New England. If it goes directly over the benchmark, then it's threading the needle for a good batch of snow. A good way to monitor how a system is going to pass, relative to the benchmark, is by watching the Current Surface Pressure Map, located in our 'Current Conditions' page (along with many other handy maps). In tandem with that, often watching the recent 3-Hour Pressure Falls will help identify the best direction of movement. As with all storm systems, the point of lowest air pressure marks the current center of circulation, so rightly the region of deepest pressure falls near to the center can indicate where that center is migrating to.

Also, keep in mind that we'll be streaming our weather maps and coverage 24/7 online on Weather Now...so check it out!

School closings have already come in ahead of the first flakes, so be sure to follow that on CBS 3, but also on our website on our Storm Closings page.