Epic snow no match for local "Snow Team" and Woburn resident

According to weather.com, the Boston area had been hit with more than 62 inches of snow in February alone, making it the snowiest month on record. The historic snowfall and frigid temperatures are no match, however, for Cummings Properties’ seasoned Snow Team and its very first member, lifetime Woburn resident George Holland.

The 100-person team worked around the clock during much of the month to ensure that the firm’s 2,000-plus commercial real estate clients had uninterrupted access to their offices as well as plenty of parking. Holland and his colleagues were aided by 60 vintage and modern snow-fighting vehicles, including a 1968 Sicard Jr. Snow Master that was recently featured on FOX25 News and WBZ during their winter storm coverage.

“We haven’t dealt with this much snow since the Blizzard of ’78,” said Holland, who joined Cummings Properties in 1976 and is now on his 39th winter as part of the Woburn-based firm’s Snow Team. “This time though, we were much better prepared; we have better equipment and a stronger, more experienced team.”

Holland said this winter was easier to deal with than 1978 because the snow was intermittent, which made it more manageable. “In 1978, no one could go anywhere for a week.”

Cummings Properties vice president of field operations Greg Ahearn reported that, although the firm has been able to keep up with all that Mother Nature has thrown at New England this winter, this year has presented a unique challenge.

“Typically, Boston winters feature alternating snow and rain events,” said Ahearn, also a longtime Woburn resident. “This season, however, there has simply been no melting relief whatsoever in between storms.”

According to weather.com, other astonishing weather records set in Boston this winter include:

• Two Winter storms (Juno and Marcus) on the top 10 list of heaviest Boston-area snowstorms of all time
• Four calendar days with at least 12 inches of snow–a first for any snow season
• Most days with measurable snow in a month
• Twenty-eight consecutive days with temperature lows of 20 degrees or colder, breaking the all-time record of 27 consecutive days, set in 1881
• Snowfall over the 100-inch mark, making Boston less than six inches away already from the snowiest winter on record

In one of its snow farms, behind 500 West Cummings Park in Woburn, giant snow-blowing machines have piled more than 3,100 tons of trucked-in snow to a height of 34 feet. According to Ahearn, staff members are guessing that Cummings will set its own record, with snow on the property “well into June.”

More information about Cummings Properties’ Snow Team is available at www.cummingsproperties.com/cummings_snow_team.html.

Cummings Properties’ 10 million square feet of prime space accommodates executive offices, healthcare facilities, laboratories, retail storefronts, warehouses, and more. With a portfolio of this size and variety, the firm can meet almost any commercial real estate need, from 150 square feet to 300,000 square feet. Its in-house experts in design, construction, and property management offer “one-stop shopping” for leasing clients.

Photo: Lifetime Woburn resident George Holland, Cummings Properties’ longest-serving employee, with the 1968 Sicard Jr. Snow Master snow machine.