Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in Massachusetts, January 3, 2006

Name: Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in Massachusetts, January 3, 2006
Start: 2006-01-03T05:00
End: 2006-01-03T13:00
Location: Massachusetts

January 3, 2006 · NWS BOX · 6 events in 5 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 6 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: $100,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 6

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 weakening area of low pressure centered over the Ohio Valley redeveloped into a coastal low off the Delmarva Coast during the early morning hours of 3 January. This coastal low rapidly intensified as it moved well south of New England, bringing a mixture of heavy, wet snow, rain and gusty northeast winds to Massachusetts. The heavy, wet snow combined with gusty winds brought down limbs, trees, and power lines, and produced power outages across the state. The hardest hit areas were across western and central Massachusetts, where generally between 6 and 14 inches of snow, combined with gusty northeast winds, brought down numerous trees, limbs, and wires. In Shrewsbury, the heavy snow brought a tree down on a house, causing partial roof collapse. No known injuries directly resulted from this noreaster.

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 Jan 2, 5:30 PM EST, 11 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 2, 5:30 PM EST, 11 hours 30 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 2, 6:48 AM EST, 22 hours 12 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
648 AM EST MON JAN 2 2006

CTZ002>004-MAZ002>024-026-NHZ011-012-015-RIZ001>008-031200-
BARNSTABLE MA-BLOCK ISLAND RI-BRISTOL RI-CENTRAL MIDDLESEX MA-
CHESHIRE NH-DUKES MA-EASTERN ESSEX MA-EASTERN FRANKLIN MA-
EASTERN HAMPDEN MA-EASTERN HAMPSHIRE MA-EASTERN HILLSBOROUGH NH-
EASTERN KENT RI-EASTERN NORFOLK MA-EASTERN PLYMOUTH MA-HARTFORD CT-
NANTUCKET MA-NEWPORT RI-NORTHERN BRISTOL MA-NORTHERN WORCESTER MA-
NORTHWEST MIDDLESEX MA-NORTHWEST PROVIDENCE RI-
SOUTHEAST MIDDLESEX MA-SOUTHEAST PROVIDENCE RI-SOUTHERN BRISTOL MA-
SOUTHERN PLYMOUTH MA-SOUTHERN WORCESTER MA-SUFFOLK MA-TOLLAND CT-
WASHINGTON RI-WESTERN AND CENTRAL HILLSBOROUGH NH-WESTERN ESSEX MA-
WESTERN FRANKLIN MA-WESTERN HAMPDEN MA-WESTERN HAMPSHIRE MA-WESTERN
KENT RI-WESTERN NORFOLK MA-WESTERN PLYMOUTH MA-WINDHAM CT-
648 AM EST MON JAN 2 2006

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST CONNECTICUT...
ALL OF MASSACHUSETTS EXCEPT BERKSHIRE COUNTY...SOUTHWEST NEW
HAMPSHIRE...AND ALL OF RHODE OF ISLAND.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT...
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES HAVE BEEN ISSUED FOR LATE TODAY AND
TONIGHT FOR NORTHERN CONNECTICUT...NORTHERN RHODE ISLAND AND SOUTH
CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MASSACHUSETTS.  A MIXTURE OF SNOW...FREEZING
RAIN AND RAIN IS EXPECTED.  SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 2 TO 4 INCHES IS
POSSIBLE WITH SOME ICING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH MONDAY..
A STRONG NOREASTER WILL BRING POTENTIALLY HEAVY SNOW TO THE INTERIOR
OF SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND TUESDAY AND TUESDAY EVENING...STRONG WINDS
ALONG THE SOUTH COAST AND COASTAL FLOODING TO EAST COASTAL
MASSACHUSETTS.

WINTER STORM WATCHES HAVE BEEN POSTED IN THE INTERIOR FROM THE I-95
CORRIDOR TO ABOUT 30 MILES NORTH OF THE MASS PIKE.  THIS INCLUDES
PROVIDENCE AND BOSTON AS WELL AS NORTHERN BRISTOL AND WESTERN
PLYMOUTH COUNTIES.  THE BEST CHANCE FOR SIGNIFICANT SNOW
ACCUMULATION WILL BE NEAR THE MASS PIKE SOUTHWARD TO NORTHERN
CONNECTICUT AND NORTHWEST RHODE ISLAND.

HIGH WIND WATCHES ARE IN EFFECT FOR THE CAPE AND ISLANDS AND THE
REST OF THE SOUTH COAST FOR TUESDAY AND TUESDAY EVENING.  NORTHEAST
WINDS WILL INCREASE TO 30 TO 40 MPH ON TUESDAY CONTINUING INTO
TUESDAY EVENING.  WIND GUSTS TO 60 MPH ARE POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY FOR
THE OUTER CAPE AND ISLANDS.

A COASTAL FLOOD WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR EAST COASTAL MASSACHUSETTS
FOR THE TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING HIGH TIDE
CYCLES.  A STORM SURGE UP TO 2 FT COMBINED WITH HIGH ASTRONOMICAL
TIDES AND 15 TO 20 FOOT SEAS MAY RESULT IN MODERATE COASTAL FLOODING
NEAR THE TIME OF HIGH TIDE.

STORM WARNINGS HAVE BEEN ISSUED FOR THE SOUTHERN SOUNDS AND OUTER
COASTAL WATERS SOUTH AND EAST OF NANTUCKET FOR TUESDAY AND TUESDAY
NIGHT.  WIND GUSTS TO 50 TO 55 KTS ARE EXPECTED WITH 15 TO 20 FOOT
SEAS ON THE OUTER WATERS EAST AND SOUTH OF NANTUCKET.  GALE WARNINGS
ARE IN EFFECT FOR THE REST OF THE COASTAL WATERS FOR WIND GUSTS TO
45 KTS.

YET ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM COULD APPROACH THE REGION
THURSDAY...BRINGING ANOTHER PERIOD OF MIXED PRECIPITATION.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE NEEDED LATE TODAY THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT.
SPOTTERS SHOULD REPORT SNOWFALL GREATER THAN 2 INCHES...ANY ICE
ACCUMULATION AND STRONG WINDS GREATER THAN 40 MPH OR WIND DAMAGE TO
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.  ALSO...ANY REPORTS OF COASTAL
FLOODING WILL BE APPRECIATED.

KJC

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 winter weather, 3 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Weather, Eastern Hampden

When: January 3, 5:00 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
Where: Eastern Hampden forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 42.135, -72.632 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Western Norfolk

When: January 3, 6:45 AM EST to 11:00 AM EST
Where: Western Norfolk forecast zone
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 42.171, -71.184 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Northern Bristol

When: January 3, 7:30 AM EST to 11:30 AM EST
Where: Northern Bristol forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 41.757, -71.088 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Eastern Hampden

When: January 3, 10:00 AM EST to 1:00 PM EST
Where: Eastern Hampden forecast zone
Property damage: $20,000
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 42.135, -72.632 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Southern Worcester

When: January 3, 10:00 AM EST to 1:00 PM EST
Where: Southern Worcester forecast zone
Property damage: $50,000
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 42.351, -71.908 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Eastern Hampshire

When: January 3, 10:30 AM EST to 1:00 PM EST
Where: Eastern Hampshire forecast zone
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 42.340, -72.664 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Winter Weather: Snow, sleet or freezing rain below warning levels that still caused disruption, damage or casualties.
Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Massachusetts in 2006 Every state in 2006 This day in weather history Warnings in Massachusetts, January 2006

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5489139, 5489140, 5489141, 5489142, 5489143, 5489144.