Even though most people see the winter solstice as the official change of seasons, that doesn’t jibe with the meteorological starting point.
That already happened on Dec. 1. North Shore residents got a rude reality check, first with a storm that, while not prolific in terms of accumulation, dumped a couple of wet, slushy inches of snow. But was the second half of this long-duration storm — which was still going on as of noon Tuesday — that caused headaches for those whose job it is to get rid of it.
On the other hand, the estimated six inches of snow that fell gave children throughout the region an extra day off, as classes in all schools in the Item coverage area were canceled.
“(The storm) was tough to deal with,” said Gino Cresta, Swampscott’s director of public works. “Usually, in a six-inch snowfall, it wouldn’t give us that much trouble. But for this long of a duration, it was hard. We started at 8:30 Sunday night and we just wrapped up at noon.”
Lynn chose not to institute a parking ban Sunday, and began treating streets that afternoon, before the snow really got going. But once started, it piled up quickly in some spots.
“It was a diverse storm,” said Joe Zukas of the Lynn Fire Department. “We (he and Paul Ricchi, emergency management director for the fire department) were riding down the beach, and there was hardly any snow. But when you went to northern parts of the city, like the Wyoma Square area, and there were a couple of inches.”
And, said Ricchi, Part 2 of the storm was completely different from Part 1
“The first one was Western Mass. storm, but the second one hit us,” he said. “And the way Lynn likes to do this, it has a lot of independent contractors who plow. And I don’t believe that they were all on board yet.”
Zukas agreed.
“This was early (for this kind of a storm),” he said. “Plus, it was hard to figure out what to do. It was like trying to hit a moving target.”
Acting Saugus Police Chief Ronald Giorgetti said the period between late Monday night and early Tuesday was the department’s busiest.
“We had more than an average number of calls due to roadway conditions,” Giorgetti said, “specifically late (Monday) night and early (Tuesday) morning.”
He also said there were a lot of issues typical for a big snowstorm, particularly dealing with motor vehicles and slippery roads.
In Nahant, Sgt. Steven Shultz said things were pretty much routine.
“We didn’t get that much snow,” he said. “We didn’t hear of any problems. It was pretty much routine.”
Said JohnTomasz, Lynnfield’s director of public works, “(the snow) was more than we were expecting. It made things very frustrating.”
Tomasz said that the town used 14 DPW vehicles and between 30-35 contractors, making sure everything was in order with the schools and along side streets.
As for how much it cost, “I wouldn’t be surprised if (the storm) cost around $40,000,” which, he said, constitutes a chunk of his budget, which is roughly $150,000.
The worst period for the snow, said Cresta, was around 10 a.m. Wednesday.
“It’s kind of ironic,” he said. “The Town Administrator (Sean Fitzgerald) pushed the starting time back a couple of hours, and that’s when it was at its worst.”
He’s just glad that this storm took place during a time of astronomically low tides.
“We were very fortunate,” he said. “Even with the low tides, we had splash over (Monday).”
At this point, Cresta said, he’s hoping and praying it doesn’t snow Saturday.
“I have something to do at 1:30,” he said, referring to the Big Blue Super Bowl game against Amherst.
