Winter Weather — Southern Berkshire, Massachusetts

2024-03-22 to 2024-03-23 · Southern Berkshire, Massachusetts

Wider weather episode

The complex interaction of a northern stream shortwave and a southern stream coastal low pressure system brought widespread snow, freezing rain, and plain rain to western Massachusetts from the evening of Friday, March 22 through Saturday evening, March 23, 2024. The heaviest snow fell across the northern portions of Berkshire County where accumulations of 2-5 inches were common. In the southern half, much less snow fell. Accumulations were generally less than an inch, creating a steep south to north gradient with more rain having fallen in the southern half of the county. Additionally, before the transition to plain rain, freezing rain fell mainly in the southern portion of the county where accumulations of a quarter of an inch were reported.

The town of Beckett was hit especially hard during this storm. Nearly 110 people were without power through Sunday due to an extensive amount of tree, wire, and power pole damage. Additionally, an extensive amount of road closures lead to portions of the town being impassible and residents were warned by town officials to stay home and avoid travel due to hazardous road conditions.

Key Impacts: Power outages, school closures, traffic accidents, travel delays.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1169334. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.