NORTHAMPTON — Foster Farrar True Value in Northampton had a much busier Monday morning than usual, according to the hardware store’s employees. Salt, reflective markers and shovels were flying off the shelves as residents prepared for the first significant snowfall of the season that’s set to roll in Tuesday morning and last most of the day.
“People keep telling me it’s going to be bad. I haven’t seen any weather alerts but my neighbor is freaking out,” said Jesse Mayhew of Northampton, who brought his son along to load up his car with salt and magnesium.
Meteorologists predict between 2 and 9 inches will fall in Hampshire County, depending on elevation.
After picking up some shovels to replace old broken ones, Shannon Beaudin was on his way back to his Chesterfield home where elevations are some 1,300 feet. He said he isn’t worried, “as long as we got enough gas for the snow blower and the Jeep, and food for the dogs.”
Catherine Hancock was purchasing a plastic boot tray that she is instead going to use on her front porch. “It’s going to have a bucket of sand and shovels so it doesn’t get all over the wood floor and the floor doesn’t get wrecked,” she said.
As she checked out with two shovels, Linda Papageorge of Hatfield said, “I hope we get a lot of snow. I just love the snow.”
The bulk of Tuesday’s snowstorm is forecast to impact the western, more elevated communities of Hampshire County where snow is expected to pile up to about 6 to 8 inches, according to Rob Megnia, senior service hydrologist for the National Weather Service in Taunton. Meanwhile in the southern corners of the county, snowfall is expected to reach 2 to 4 inches with a chance of a wintry mix of rain and snow in the afternoons.
From 7 a.m. Tuesday morning through the evening, a winter storm watch will be in effect for western Massachusetts communities, with snowfall expected to begin between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. The snow is expected to taper off between 8 p.m. and midnight.
“The saving grace is that winds look pretty modest,” said Megnia, adding that gusts should max out at 20 mph during the storm. With highs forecast throughout the week to average around 30 degrees, freezing is not currently a concern.
“As long as surfaces have been treated, there should not be a threat of flash freezing,” said Megnia.
David Hayes, the region’s “Weather Nut,” called Tuesday’s storm, “an early season elevation-dependent winter storm.”
This means, he said, that communities located above 1,000 feet in elevation can expect to receive steeper rates of snowfall than those southernmost communities. Towns such as Leverett, Shutesbury, Williamsburg, Cummington, Worthington, Goshen, Plainfield and Chesterfield are expected to receive between 5 to 9 inches of snow.
Meanwhile to the south, communities such as Northampton and Amherst may see a wintry mix of rain and snow, or just rain, in the afternoon hours. Hayes projects that accumulation will add up to about 2 to 5 inches in these communities. Even further south in Hartford, he expects conditions to be predominantly rainy.
Hayes said that since the storm is low pressure, it will, “make a beeline” north and head to southern Vermont, New Hampshire and later Quebec, Canada.
In Worthington, where elevations average 1,400 feet, Highway Superintendent Devon Wolf said that crews are ready.
“We were all prepped shortly after Halloween, and were out every day this weekend,” Wolf said, adding that he does not see any streets likely to be impacted by the storm. “We’ll be out there after the first couple inches until the end.”
Assistant Superintendent for the Amherst Department of Public Works Amy Rusiecki said that last she checked Monday morning Amherst is projected to receive about 6 inches of snow. This amount of accumulation she said is a “plowable event” and that the roads will need to be more than treated with salt and sand.
Rusiecki advises residents to stay off the roads if possible, leave with time to spare if need be, and to drive slowly.
“Take your time and be safe,” she said.