First Snow Comes, And Massachusetts Keeps Going

Several thousand people are without power and a handful of schools have closed, but by all accounts, the first snow of the year could have been worse.

There were nearly 13,000 without power as of 9:30 a.m., but 9,470 of those were in Fall River, where a fifth of the city was without power. The total number was down below 6,000 an hour later, according to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.

Traffic on Friday morning didn't look too out of the ordinary, and there were the usual snowy commuting problems. The commuter rail's Stoughton, Kingston, and Fitchburg lines all reported delays due to fallen trees and one train hitting a snow bank.

A number of schools instituted two-hour delays as early as Thursday evening, but only a few - including Worcester Public - canceled class by the morning. See the list here.

>>>Do you have any snowy photos of your area? Send them to mike.carraggi@patch.com so we can feature them on Patch!

More than 2,000 crews were working to clear state roads overnight, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation said. More than 570 were still working as of 8 p.m.

No injuries were reported, but police were dealing with numerous traffic incidents west of Worcester. One crash involving a tractor trailer on the Mass. Pike was causing problems as of 9 a.m.

>>>Read: Man Crashes Car In Snow, Terrorizes Mom, Children

Photos by State Police