Thaw to follow messy storm
This season’s rare snowfall that snarled the afternoon commute Tuesday will be a bad memory before too long, with temperatures expected to rise into the 40s Wednesday and Thursday and into the 50s Friday — before more cold weather arrives.
The lack of major snowstorms so far this winter could be due to exceptional Arctic cold — which can play in our favor farther south in New England, said MIT climatologist Judah Cohen.
“There are really strong relationships for getting severe winter weather when the Arctic is warm, but it’s been really surprisingly cold this winter,” he said.
But, Cohen said, weather models show a shift in the polar vortex that will likely bring colder weather after this week’s thaw.
Tuesday’s rush hour storm reduced traffic on some major highways to a crawl as police departments across the region reported crashes on the roadways and several issues on the rail lines.
Reports of smoke caused passengers to be evacuated from an outbound Mattapan trolley that was stopped near Butler Station due to a mechanical issue at about 5:30 p.m. No one was injured, state Department of Transportation spokeswoman Lisa Battiston said.
A box truck collided with an inbound Green Line trolley on Boston University’s campus at about 4:30 p.m., causing the trolley operator to be transported to the hospital with a minor injury, Battiston said.
Switch issues and mechanical problems led to delays of an hour or more for some outbound trains Tuesday evening, the MBTA Commuter Rail, which is operated by Keolis, said on Twitter. Four hundred switch heaters were activated to help melt snow and ice.
Snow moved into the region early in the afternoon before changing over to a wintry mix and ultimately rain overnight, said Alan Dunham, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Norton.
Boston and surrounding communities saw about 1 to 2 inches of snow before the changeover, according to the weather service. Communities to the north and west were forecast to receive more.
The speed limit was reduced to 40 mph on Interstate 90 from Westboro to the New York border, and MassDOT had more than 3,000 crews plowing roads as of 6:30 p.m.