Frigid gusts warm hearts as first snow of season falls
It was not much, and it brought along frigid air and howling winds, but winter weather fans still relished the season's first snowfall yesterday.
"Today is probably my favorite day of the year, so far: the first snowfall," said Tim Rappa, 15, from Stoughton, who spent the day snowboarding at the Blue Hills Reservation in Milton.
The snow coated most of the Boston area with an inch of dry powder, and Plymouth County with up to 3 inches, according to Charlie Foley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Taunton. But after the snow tapered off during the afternoon, residents faced biting temperatures in the 20s and in the teens further inland, along with gusts of up to 50 miles per hour.
Meteorologists predicted another cold day today, with the National Weather Service forecasting a high of 28 degrees in Boston.
"Certainly we'll see some of the coldest temperatures that we've seen recently," Foley said. "It'll feel like winter has arrived in earnest."
By Wednesday, Bostonians should see a reprieve, with temperatures expected to climb back into the mid-50s.
Thursday could bring another snowstorm, but Foley said it is too soon to tell how much snow is expected.
At Blue Hills yesterday, the main trail was dotted with skiers and snowboarders enjoying the first blanket of natural snow on the slope.
"It's a nice little coat of powder over the man-made stuff," said Rappa, a snowboarding instructor-in-training at Blue Hills. "Smooth, less slippery."
His friend Max Eicoff, 15, of Randolph, also a ski instructor-in-training, said he was the first person down the slopes yesterday morning.
"I waited a half an hour and got first tracks on the powder, the real first snow on Big Blue of the year," Eicoff said.
Skiers and snowboarders, big and small, were covered in gear trying to keep warm on the blustery afternoon, and the fresh snow glistened on the trees and trails in the surrounding woods.
But the day was not without mishaps. Police reported a couple of accidents along Interstate 95, one involving two State Police cruisers.
Around 7:35 a.m., a Mercury Sable traveling north on I-95 slammed into a police cruiser that had stopped in the left lane to investigate a separate accident. The cruiser that was struck slammed into another cruiser also working on the crash.
The troopers were not injured but one cruiser was badly damaged, said State Police Sergeant David Mahan. The driver of the Sable received minor injuries and was taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
The snowfall was the result of a one-two punch: A Great Lakes storm transferred its strength to a coastal storm charging north from the mid-Atlantic toward the Maritimes. The result was a moderate snow, but the coastal storm also routed cold, Canadian air into the Boston area.
Last year's first storm was far snowier: It dumped 10 inches of snow between 2 and 9 p.m. on Dec. 13, a record for the date in Boston, snarling traffic and causing spinouts on the roads.
By early evening yesterday, only patches of snow remained on Boston Common.
Despite frigid winds, the Frog Pond was crowded with skaters. Maggie and Rob McGuirl, vacationing in the city from Hasbrouck Heights, N.J., thought the snow added ambience to their winter weekend getaway.
"It kind of gets you in the mood for the season," Rob McGuirl said.
Globe correspondent Matt Negrin contributed to this report. 