NORTHAMPTON – Morning snow is forecast to change to afternoon freezing rain Wednesday, with potentially hazardous ice buildup in the cards as well.
Benjamin Sipprell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Taunton, said that snow is set to start in the area around 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., that it will snow at a rate of about 1 inch per hour, with a predicted accumulation of 4 to 6 inches. Sipprell said that visibility could be reduced to a half-mile while snow is coming down at that rate.
Snow is only one part of the upcoming weather event, however.
“Around 2 p.m. we’re going to change over to freezing rain,” said Sipprell. The changeover is forecast to occur between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., he said.
Sipprell also said that there’s potential for an ice buildup of up to a quarter inch, which could effect the evening commute. “It could be a potentially hazardous one,” he said.
Precipitation is set to continue on, stopping sometime from 10 p.m. to midnight, with the freezing rain potentially turning into normal rain toward the end of the weather event.
In anticipation of the storm, public schools in Northampton, Amherst, Easthampton, Belchertown, Granby and South Hadley were closed. Forbes Library in Northampton also shut its doors for the day.
Parking bans were put in place in a number of Hampshire County communities, including Amherst, Northampton, Granby and Easthampton.