Heavy Snow and High Wind in Massachusetts, February 5 to 6, 2001

Name: Heavy Snow and High Wind in Massachusetts, February 5 to 6, 2001
Start: 2001-02-05T14:00
End: 2001-02-06T05:00
Location: Massachusetts

February 5 to 6, 2001 · NWS BOX · 18 events in 18 counties and zones

A major winter storm brought heavy snow and strong winds to much of the Bay State. Up to 2 feet of snow fell over interior Massachusetts, while winds gusted over 50 mph on Cape Cod and Nantucket.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 18 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 18

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS BOX wrote it up.

A major winter storm brought heavy snow and strong winds to much of the Bay State. Up to 2 feet of snow fell over interior Massachusetts, while winds gusted over 50 mph on Cape Cod and Nantucket. Snowfall totals averaged 1 to 2 feet in Franklin, Hampshire, Hampden, northern Worcester, northwest Middlesex and interior Essex Counties. Amounts of 8 to 16 inches were common in southern Worcester County, with 4 to 8 inches in the Greater Boston area. Amounts of 2 to 4 inches were reported across much of the South Shore, but the combination of snow and strong winds created a significant impact to travelers. Northeast winds gusted to 58 mph in Provincetown, and Nantucket reported sustained winds of 40 mph with frequent gusts to 50 mph. Most of the state experienced wind gusts of 35 to 45 mph during the height of the storm. About 12,000 electric customers were left without power. Nearly 200 flights were canceled at Logan International Airport because of the storm, and the airport was forced to briefly close twice for snow removal.One death was indirectly attributed to this storm, when an 87-year-old woman was killed in a car accident on Route 169 in Charlton.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Boston/Norton, MA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 5, 12:50 PM EST, 1 hour 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 5, 12:50 PM EST, 1 hour 10 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
1250 PM EST MON FEB 5 2001

UPDATE:  PTYPE REMAINS THE BIGGEST PRBLM THIS AFTN.  UPDATED ZNS TO
HIT SNW A LTL HARDER ON S CST WHERE RAIN IS MIXG WITH OR CHGG TO
WET SNW.  SFC WND HAS SHIFTED TO N NOW THAT NXT AREA OF PRESF HAVE
PASSED S OF ISLANDS...BUT WE STILL THINK RAIN WL CONT TO MIX IN
THRU REST OF AFTN.

AM CONSIDERING BUMPING UP SNW TOTALS FOR AFTN PKG IN MOST ZNS.
ALTHO MDLS IN AGRMNT ON TRACK OF SFC LO...AVN/ETA SHOW SOME DIFF ON
TRACK OF H85 LO WHICH AFFECTS PLACEMENT OF MAX QPF AXIS (ETA BEING
FARTHER W THAN AVN).  DEFINITELY PREFER AVN BASED UPON ITS BETTER
VERIFICATION SO FAR TDA...AND WE WL PRBLY INCLUDE MAX 18 ACRS PTNS
NRN CT...WRN/CNTRL MA AND SW NH.  CLOSER TO COAST...SFC TMPS IN MID
30S THIS AFTN MAY LIMIT ACCUMS BEFORE SUNSET (SPCLY ON ROADWAYS) BUT
WE MAY ALSO NEED TO UPGRADE ADVY IN SE MA/PVD WITH A LO GRADE WRNG.
WL DECIDE FOR SURE LATER.

NOTES...18Z CHH SOUNDG WL BE AVBL.  WE ALSO REQUESTED A GOES-8 RAPID
SCAN ERLR WHICH WL CONT THRU 0126Z (AT LEAST).  ALSO...KBOS DEWPT HAS
BEEN READING TOO HIGH TDA (35F AT 17Z) AND AOMC IS AWARE OF PRBLM.

.BOX...WINTER STORM WRNG THRU TNGT CTZ002>004-MAZ002>016-RIZ001>003
       WINTER WX ADVY THRU TNGT MAZ017>019-RIZ004-005
       HIGH WIND WATCH LATE TNGT MAZ022-024
       GALE WRNG ALL CSTL WATERS

JWD

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

15 heavy snow, 2 high wind, 1 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Western Franklin

When: February 5, 2:00 PM EST to February 6, 3:00 AM EST
Where: Western Franklin forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.583, -72.592 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Eastern Essex

When: February 5, 2:00 PM EST to February 6, 3:00 AM EST
Where: Eastern Essex forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.639, -70.868 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Eastern Franklin

When: February 5, 2:00 PM EST to February 6, 3:00 AM EST
Where: Eastern Franklin forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.583, -72.592 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Eastern Hampden

When: February 5, 2:00 PM EST to February 6, 3:00 AM EST
Where: Eastern Hampden forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.135, -72.632 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Eastern Hampshire

When: February 5, 2:00 PM EST to February 6, 3:00 AM EST
Where: Eastern Hampshire forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.340, -72.664 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Eastern Norfolk

When: February 5, 2:00 PM EST to February 6, 3:00 AM EST
Where: Eastern Norfolk forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.171, -71.184 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Northern Worcester

When: February 5, 2:00 PM EST to February 6, 3:00 AM EST
Where: Northern Worcester forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.351, -71.908 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Southeast Middlesex

When: February 5, 2:00 PM EST to February 6, 3:00 AM EST
Where: Southeast Middlesex forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.486, -71.392 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Southern Worcester

When: February 5, 2:00 PM EST to February 6, 3:00 AM EST
Where: Southern Worcester forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.351, -71.908 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Suffolk / Also Part of Norfolk

When: February 5, 2:00 PM EST to February 6, 3:00 AM EST
Where: Suffolk / Also Part of Norfolk forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.264, -71.125 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Western Essex

When: February 5, 2:00 PM EST to February 6, 3:00 AM EST
Where: Western Essex forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.639, -70.868 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Western Hampden

When: February 5, 2:00 PM EST to February 6, 3:00 AM EST
Where: Western Hampden forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.135, -72.632 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Western Hampshire

When: February 5, 2:00 PM EST to February 6, 3:00 AM EST
Where: Western Hampshire forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.340, -72.664 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Western Middlesex

When: February 5, 2:00 PM EST to February 6, 3:00 AM EST
Where: Western Middlesex forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.486, -71.392 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Western Norfolk

When: February 5, 2:00 PM EST to February 6, 3:00 AM EST
Where: Western Norfolk forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 42.171, -71.184 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Barnstable

When: February 6, 12:00 AM EST to 4:00 AM EST
Where: Barnstable forecast zone
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.684, -70.274 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Nantucket

When: February 6, 12:00 AM EST to 4:00 AM EST
Where: Nantucket forecast zone
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.270, -70.022 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Strong Wind, Dukes

When: February 6, 2:00 AM EST to 5:00 AM EST
Where: Dukes forecast zone
Reported by: OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates: 41.389, -70.699 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.
High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.
Strong Wind: Non-thunderstorm winds below high wind criteria that nonetheless caused damage or casualties.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Massachusetts in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Massachusetts, February 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5231248, 5231249, 5231250, 5231251, 5231252, 5231253, 5231254, 5231255, 5231256, 5231257, 5231258, 5231259, 5231260, 5231261, 5231262, 5231263, 5231264, 5231265.