Winter made a return visit to New
England Saturday with Massachusetts’s northern neighboring states blanketed in
SNOW and Massachusetts soaked in pouring rain with a flood watch in effect. About 100 eager skiers were lined up at the lift at Gunstock Mountain Resort in Gilford, N.H. before it opened at 8 a.m. Saturday, ready to hit the slopes, said General Manager Tom Day in a phone interview. “We haven’t seen this in a while because the month of March has been a little dreary, as far as snow and winter-type weather,” Day said. “So everybody gets jacked up to see this kind of snow — nice, fluffy snow.” Advertisement Day was excited about the spontaneous “boost” of snow, now that it’s spring and with just about a week left in the ski season, he said. “The season pass holders, the diehard skiers — they’ll go right up to the end,” Day said. “We were joking with them, and I said, ‘What’s all this white stuff coming out of the sky? It’s weird.’ ” Elsewhere in New Hampshire, Waterville Valley had 17.6 inches of snow as of 3:40 p.m., according to the weather service. Claremont had 14.5 inches, and Albany, Ellsworth, and
Lebanon each had 14 inches, as of Saturday afternoon. The Mount
Washington Avalanche Center issued a warning Saturday for “steep slopes,” including Tuckerman, Huntington Ravine, Gulf of Slides, Great Gulf, and Ammonoosuc Ravine. “These avalanches may be large enough to bury multiple people, do significant damage to trees or buildings, and will likely run far down in paths or to areas that are normally considered safe zones,” the avalanche center said in a statement. The warning will expire Sunday at 7 a.m., according to the avalanche center. In Vermont, Ludlow had 22 inches of snow as of 4 p.m., the weather service said. Woodstock, Vt. had 21 inches, White River Junction, Vt. had 20 inches, and Shrewsbury, Vt. had 19.3 inches. Advertisement In Maine,
Sweden and Lovell both had 13.5 inches as of 4:30 p.m., and Otisfield had 10.5 inches as of 4:55 p.m., the weather service said. The Massachusetts flood watch — which covers areas including Boston, Gloucester, Lowell, Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket — was in effect until 8 a.m. Sunday, the National Weather Service said in an announcement. As of 1 p.m., 1 to 3 inches of snow had fallen across northern Massachusetts, according to the weather service. In western Massachusetts, Berkshire East Mountain Resort in Charlemont welcomed 3 inches of snow overnight, which brought in a nice top layer to the slopes, said Nathan Marr, the resort’s director of marketing. “Anytime you look out your window and see snow, you’re in that winter mindset, so you can put away the
golf clubs and get your skis back out to take a few more runs before spring is really here,” Marr said in a phone interview. Savoy had 3 inches of snow, Hawley 2.7 inches, Haverhill 1.5 inches, and Newburyport had 1.1 inches. The heaviest rain was expected to pass through western and central Massachusetts between 4 and 7 p.m., then eastern Massachusetts from 7 to 10 p.m., Frank Nocera, a meteorologist at the weather service’s Norton office, said in a phone interview. “There will be very heavy rain, street and highway flooding, especially along the I-95 corridor of eastern Massachusetts, and there will be some gusty winds,” Nocera said. “Tough time to be out and about late this afternoon and evening.” Advertisement More than 2,870 customers were without power as of 6:30 p.m. Saturday, according to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency’s outage map . Other communities covered by the flood watch include Fall River, Lowell, Lawrence, Plymouth, Norwood, and Taunton, the weather service said. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation warned of “challenging driving situations,” particularly at higher elevations, throughout Saturday. The speed limit on the Turnpike was dropped to 40 mph Saturday morning between the
New York state border and Westfield, which is just west of Springfield, according to a MassDOT posting on X. “With continuous precipitation and low temperatures expected through this evening, we strongly urge travelers to be cautious,” MassDOT Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver said in a statement. “We anticipate parts of the state will experience freezing rain at some point today and tonight, which will cause difficult driving conditions. Those who need to be on the road should make sure to plan ahead and reduce speed, especially in areas with standing water.” A truck filled with thousands of pineapples rolled over on Interstate 495 in Westford Saturday morning, sending the fruits rolling into the brush on the side of the highway, State
police said in a post on X. The truck’s driver was taken to Lowell General Hospital with minor injuries after the two-vehicle crash, according to the post. It was unclear if weather was a factor in the rollover, but roads were icy at the time. Advertisement As of 6:30 p.m., 17 flights were canceled and 190 delayed at Logan International Airport in Boston, according to FlightAware , an aviation traffic monitor. The turbulent weather is expected to calm down by Sunday morning and the day will be mostly cloudy in the Boston area, with a high near 39 degrees, according to the weather service. Sean Cotter and John Tlumacki of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Bailey Allen can be reached at bailey.allen@globe.com . Follow her on
Twitter @baileyaallen .