Be glad it was rain -- not snow

By Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

It may not be much consolation a week into spring, but this morning’s gloomy, stubborn drizzle could have been much worse. An inch of snow had been predicted to fall in Boston during the morning rush.

Drivers weren’t so lucky in northern Worcester and Franklin counties, which has been covered by 2 to 3 inches of snow. It is worse in Southern New Hampshire, where dozens of schools have canceled classes because of the 7 inches of snow expected to accumulate by this afternoon.

“Down here it is mainly rain,” said Charlie Foley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Taunton.

Even without the snow, there were still problems on roads in Massachusetts, State Police said. On a stretch of wet roadway on southbound Interstate 495, a tractor-trailer carrying hardware supplies rolled over onto a sport utility vehicle near Exit 29 in Littleton. A woman driving the SUV had to be cut of her vehicle and was rushed to a hospital with what State Police described as serious but non-life-threatening injuries. Traffic will remain down to one to two lanes until at least noon while work crews remove the truck, State Police said.

Icy roads also caused a host minor accidents and spinouts on Interstate 95 in Boxford and along Route 3 in Billerica and Chelmsford

The rain is expected to persist through much of the day and into the night. The sun will return Saturday, but it will be breezy and cold with high in the mid 30s, Foley said. Forecasters expected sun and cold again on Sunday.

“But there should be no wind,” Foley said, “So it should feel warmer.”

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