Weather update

We'll preempt our regularly scheduled blog post this morning to report on the weather which remains nasty. Earlier in the week, forecasters called for snow on Thursday but as the days past, they kept sliding back the timing of the storm. In my mind, Thursday was still going to be the stormiest day. It did snow for long stretches yesterday but since the surface temperature stayed slightly above the freezing mark, little of it stuck on the pavement, ground or vehicles. Even at 11 last night, the snow was very light, just barely coating the grass and driveway. Things were very different this morning. Awakened at 5am by a heavy plow rumbling by, I glanced at my phone and saw an email alert that schools in Lowell had already been cancelled. Peeking out the window showed why. Everything was covered and snow was falling at a heavy rate. At that time, we only had about 3 inches on the ground. Between then and the time I cleared my driveway and left for work, the snow piled up rapidly, seeming to fall at a rate in excess of one inch per hour. As I write this at 1130am, the snow continues to fall without any hint of letup. Of the 88 documents we've recorded thus far today, 55 have come to us electronically, demonstrating another advantage of that new technology - bad weather doesn't keep you from getting on record (as long as the registry is open). UPDATE: The snow stopped falling in Lowell at 1240pm and the temperature quickly edged up to 35 degrees. The streets appear clear of snow and much melting is going on.