Massachusetts Weather: 70,000+ Without Electricity as Snow Begins to Fade

More than 70,000 across Massachusetts are without power as the effects of Winter Storm Stella carry on into the evening. The storm pounded the Bay State with a particularly snowy afternoon as wet snow and strong winds wreaked havoc on tree limbs and power lines.

The hardest hit areas, according to the Massachusetts Emergency Management System, have been Central Mass., in and near the Cape, Northern Essex County, and right around Boston. At different points there were more than 20,000 without power in Worcester and Medford, respectively. In Plymouth, more than 14,000 were in the dark. Subscribe to your local Patch for newsletters and news alerts.

Tens of thousands more were without power in Boston, Malden, Everett, Amesbury, North Andover, Saugus, Methuen, Boxford, Salem, and other areas. Winds surpassed 50 mph inland and 70 mph along the coast and Cape area.

The worst of the snowfall came between 10 a.m.-3 p.m, when snow fell at rates of more than two inches per hour. But even as the snow wanes into the early evening, forecasters warn of overnight conditions freezing wet and slushy pavement. The Wednesday commute could be a dangerous one.

Several school districts, including Boston Public, have already canceled classes for Wednesday.

Tuesday's storm resulted in a few highway accidents, but no serious injuries were reported. Disaster was averted when a tree crashed through a toddler's room in Hingham and another into a home in Swampscott. Danvers Square was closed as a flagpole threatened to collapse.

The late-arriving snow this morning was due to this "snow hole" the NWS posted about Tuesday morning. Check it out here.

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Image courtesy MEMA