Heavy Snow — Northern Bristol, Massachusetts

2020-12-16 to 2020-12-17 · Northern Bristol, Massachusetts

Event narrative

Heavy snow generally ranged 7 to 10 inches in northern Bristol County. Winds generally were gusting to 30 to 40 mph. Some specific snowfall totals included 10.3 inches at the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Norton, 10.0 inches in Mansfield, 9.4 inches in Dighton, and 7.4 inches in Rehoboth.

Wider weather episode

A storm system produced heavy snow, strong to damaging winds, and minor coastal flooding in southern New England. This was a tough storm to forecast. Although it was not deep low pressure and although it passed just south of the 40N/70W benchmark, its precipitation shield was expansive because of a broad 700 mb low over southeast New England, abundant moisture, and a very cold air mass in place. By far, the heaviest snow fell to the north (Laconia, NH) and west (Binghamton, NY), where more than 3 feet fell. But amounts ranged from 10 to 20 inches across much of southern New England. There was some minor coastal flooding at the time of high tide and also a flash freeze in eastern Massachusetts as the storm pulled away to the northeast.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 928215. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.