Blizzard hits The Berkshires

Nearly everyone in The Berkshires woke up to a foot or more of snow this morning.

Now that the snow has stopped, harsh winds and bitter cold are setting in across the county.

A special weather statement is in effect, saying considerable blowing and drifting of the snow will occur. Winds could gust up to 30 miles per hour.

Power outages totaling hundreds of thousands of customers are widespread throughout New England; so far that number is minimal in The Berkshires, with scattered outages in Lanesborough and Pittsfield reported by the Western Massachusetts Electric Company (WMECO) in the early afternoon.

Those in the eastern part of Massachusetts haven’t been so lucky.

“[We are] looking forward to the power returning,” said Heidi Clements of Brewster, Mass., who is currently without power in her home. “We are using our fireplace to keep warm; however, it will be a very cold night without our heating system working.”

Driving ban lifted

Massachusetts Governor Deval L. Patrick’s driving ban has now been lifted in the western part of the state, including Berkshire County. The last statewide ban took place in 1978.

The move was expected to take place by local officials.

“I think The Berkshires will be the first to get the driving ban lifted,” said Rep. William “Smitty” Pignatelli (D-Lenox), who praised the work of local DPWs as well as the governor’s decision to institute the ban yesterday.

Due to the road conditions, there will be no postal service in The Berkshires today.

Stay tuned to our Facebook and Twitter feeds for the latest updates.

Beacon Staff Writers Bera B. Dunau, Catherine M. Krummey and Kameron Z. Spaulding contributed to this post.

Posted by Staff Reports on February 9, 2013. Filed under Featured,News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry