Boston got its first White Christmas in 14 years as a winter storm late Sunday night and continuing until 10 a.m. Monday is expected to dump about three inches of the white stuff.
Northern counties including Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, Worcester, and Middlesex could get as much as eight inches, plus blustery conditions throughout the day on Christmas.
Cape Cod and the Islands are likely to receive the worst of the windy weather, with forecasters predicting gusts reaching 65 miles per hour.
Burst of heavy area of #snow crossing SNE, moving toward the Cape/Boston, be ready for rapid changeover mid to late-morning!! #winter #Boston #mawx pic.twitter.com/EK7eWRtMqk
— Tom Niziol (@TomNiziol) December 25, 2017
There is some concern wind speeds mixed with heavy snowfall in the earlier part of the day may cause power outages in some parts of the state. Areas including western Essex, western Hampden and eastern Hampshire counties were issued winter storm warnings lasting until about 1 p.m. ET. Weather advisories were also extended to areas of northern Connecticut; central, northeastern, and western Massachusetts and northern Rhode Island.
The last time White Christmas in the Hub was on December 25, 2003, when the city got a dusting of about an inch of snow, according to the weather service. The city was dusted with snow on Christmas in 2012, but the flakes accumulated to less than an inch—not enough to be considered a White Christmas.
Yuletide snow in Boston is actually quite rare, experts pointed out.
"The city of #Boston has only had 1"+ of snow on Christmas Day 7 times in the past 125 years. And only twice in the past 50 years! We've got a chance," meteorologist Eric Fisher tweeted excitedly before the storm hit.
The city of #Boston has only had 1"+ of snow on Christmas Day 7 times in the past 125 years. And only twice in the past 50 years! We've got a chance. pic.twitter.com/W2OVzFIGzM
— Eric Fisher (@ericfisher) December 22, 2017
Temperatures in Massachusetts are also expected to be lower than usual on Christmas reaching a high of 38 degrees. Last year on Christmas Day, the temperature in Boston reached a high of 45 degrees. The year 2015 saw an incredibly warm holiday, with temperatures reaching a record-breaking high of 69 degrees on Christmas Eve in 2015 and a high of 62 on Christmas.
Before landing in Massachusetts, the winter storm dumped three to four inches of snow in areas of Missouri, Michigan and Illinois.
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