Winter Weather Causes Havoc in Winchester

The snow in and around Winchester is expected to conclude by Tuesday afternoon and give way to rain and freezing rain through the night.

According to the National Weather Service (NWS), approximately four inches of snow fell on Winchester. The winter weather advisory that was issued on Monday will still be in effect until 11 p.m. Tuesday night.

“Snow has changed to rain across the region [Tuesday] afternoon,” the NWS said in a statement released Tuesday. “However, colder air will work back into the region by mid-evening. This may allow the rain to end as a bit of light freezing rain or freezing drizzle. Temperatures should also fall back below freezing and allow untreated roads to once again become slippery.”

But Winchester has already had its share of accidents during the morning commute. There were 13 different car accidents, disabled vehicles or incidents of cars sliding into snow banks due to the snow throughout the day.

“It’s extremely slippery out there,” said Chief, John Nash. “As the snow changes to rain and ice, it’s only going to get more treacherous. We’ve had a lot of reports of sliding on the roads.”

Winchester is still recovering from the 20 inches of snow that fell from last week’s storm. And the Fire Department has had its own issues trying to ensure the safety of the residents in town.

“We’re still plagued by hydrants that are not shoveled out,” Nash said. “Residents need to take responsibility and dig them out. The life it could save could be their own.”

With two major fires over the last week in and , Chief Nash is concerned about the possible outcome if there’s a fire in Winchester and the fire hydrant is buried under a few feet of snow.

“We’ve had two serious fires in neighboring communities and firefighters need to be able to get to the water stream quickly,” Nash said. “Our firefighters have been out there everyday since the storm trying to dig out the hydrants. There are over a thousand hydrants in town and I don’t have the manpower to dig them all out.”

As this storm winds down, the NWS is predicting flooding and some slick conditions that could cause problems for the evening commute.

“It’s going to be a difficult evening commute,” Nash said. “Hopefully the temperature doesn’t go above freezing.”

But the end of the storm is in sight. The NWS is saying the rain and freezing rain will continue into the evening and eventually stop around midnight.

Incidents from around Winchester on Tuesday:

• 7:37 a.m. - Disabled motor vehicle slid into the snow on Forest St.
• 7:52 a.m. - Disabled motor vehicle stuck in the snow on Forest St.
• 8:01 a.m. - A car slid into the snow along Johnson Rd.
• 8:36 a.m. - A motor vehicle got stuck in the snow along Highland Ave. and needed to be towed out.
• 8:46 a.m. - A disabled motor vehicle along Woodside Rd. and Pond St. needed to be towed.
• 10:48 a.m. - Along Mt. Pleasant St. and Summit Ave. an oil truck got stuck in the snow, blocking traffic.
• 11:01 a.m. - There was a disabled vehicle at Bacon St. and Everett St.
• 11:06 a.m. - A truck slid off the road at Fairmount Rd. and Washington St. crashing into a pole.
• 11:57 a.m. - There was a diasbled vehicle stuck in the snow along Berkshire and Johnson Rd.
• 12:21 p.m. - There was a minor accident in the Winchester Hospital parking lot.
• 1:45 p.m. - There was a diabled motor vehicle at Cross St.
• 1:45 p.m. - A disabled motor vehicle slid off the road and into a snow bank along Wildwood St.
• 1:48 a.m. - A water department truck got stuck in the snow.