Snow Day Predictor for Massachusetts

Browse snow day predictions for all 141 cities in Massachusetts. Select your city to check tomorrow's school closure forecast.

Every city below links to its own live snow day forecast for Massachusetts. Find your city in the alphabetical list and click it to check today's snowfall probability and school closure forecast.

About Massachusetts

Massachusetts sits in the heart of New England, bordered by New Hampshire and Vermont to the north, New York to the west, Connecticut and Rhode Island to the south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. It became the sixth state in February 1788 and is home to roughly 7.1 million people, per the latest U.S. Census Bureau estimate, packed into a state barely 190 miles across. The state built its identity on ideas as much as industry: Harvard and MIT anchor a research economy in Cambridge, biotech and medicine cluster around Boston's hospitals, and fishing ports like Gloucester and New Bedford still work the same Atlantic waters that made the state rich in the 1800s. Tourism thrives from Cape Cod beaches to Berkshires foliage. That same geographic split, dense coastal cities against a hilly, rural interior, is exactly why snow days here refuse to follow one rule. A storm that closes schools in the Berkshires can leave Boston clear, and a coastal nor'easter can do the opposite, which is why tracking conditions city by city matters more in Massachusetts than almost anywhere else in New England.

Massachusetts Snow Day Climate and School Closures

How Massachusetts's Climate Affects Snow Days

Massachusetts spans a genuine snow gradient: NOAA's 1991-2020 climate normals put Boston at 49.2 inches of snow a season, Worcester's higher inland elevation at 72.9 inches, and the Berkshire foothills near Worthington above 77 inches, while ocean-moderated Cape Cod sees just 21.5 inches in Hyannis.

The Blizzard of 1978 struck February 6-7, dumping a record 27.1 inches on Boston, gusting to 79 mph, stranding thousands of cars on Route 128, and killing roughly 100 people across the Northeast. (National Weather Service - Boston/Norton)

What Causes School Closures in Massachusetts

Coastal nor'easters drive most closures east of Interstate 495, where wind-whipped snow and flash-freeze ice on bridges matter more than raw depth; inland and in the Berkshire hill towns, districts weigh long rural bus routes and steep grades instead, so a single storm can close Pittsfield while Boston stays open.

Explore Snow Day Predictions Across Massachusetts

Massachusetts has 141 cities covered by the Snow Day Predictor. Predictions are updated hourly using real-time weather data from Open-Meteo.

Popular Cities to Check in Massachusetts

Boston. Boston, the capital and largest city, sits on Massachusetts Bay, where harbor waters temper winter cold, until a nor'easter aligns right, as in 2014-2015, when Logan Airport logged a record 110.6 inches for the season.

Worcester. Worcester sits on the Central Massachusetts plateau, high enough above the coastal plain to average nearly 73 inches of snow a season, about 50 percent more than Boston gets 40 miles east.

Springfield. Springfield anchors the Pioneer Valley along the Connecticut River, where lower elevation keeps snow totals more moderate than surrounding hills, but valley temperature inversions can turn winter precipitation into freezing rain.

Pittsfield. Pittsfield, seat of Berkshire County, sits over 1,000 feet up in the Berkshire Hills near the New York border, high and cold enough that the surrounding hill towns regularly catch the state's heaviest snow totals.

Hyannis. Hyannis, the commercial hub of Cape Cod, sees a mild 21.5 inches of snow a season thanks to ocean water nearby, but wind-driven nor'easters bring coastal flooding and ferry cancellations that close schools anyway.

Nantucket. Nantucket sits roughly 30 miles out in the Atlantic, dependent on ferries and undersea power cables from the mainland, so a strong coastal storm can strand islanders and cut power before school-worthy snow even falls.

A 9

Abington Acton Agawam Amesbury Amherst Andover Arlington Athol Attleboro

B 11

Barnstable Bedford Belmont Beverly Billerica Boston Braintree Bridgewater Brockton Brookline Burlington

C 7

Cambridge Canton Chelmsford Chelsea Chicopee Clinton Concord

D 5

Danvers Dartmouth Dedham Dracut Duxbury

E 4

East Longmeadow Easthampton Easton Everett

F 7

Fairhaven Fall River Falmouth Fitchburg Foxborough Framingham Franklin

G 4

Gardner Gloucester Grafton Greenfield

H 9

Hanover Haverhill Hingham Holbrook Holden Holliston Holyoke Hudson Hull

I 1

Ipswich

L 8

Lawrence Leominster Lexington Longmeadow Lowell Ludlow Lynn Lynnfield

M 15

Malden Mansfield Marblehead Marlborough Marshfield Maynard Medfield Medford Medway Melrose Methuen Middleborough Milford Millbury Milton

N 13

Natick Needham New Bedford Newburyport Newton North Adams North Andover North Attleborough Northampton Northborough Norton Norwell Norwood

P 5

Palmer Peabody Pembroke Pittsfield Plymouth

Q 1

Quincy

R 4

Randolph Reading Revere Rockland

S 18

Salem Sandwich Saugus Scituate Seekonk Sharon Shrewsbury Somerset Somerville South Hadley Southbridge Spencer Springfield Stoneham Stoughton Sudbury Swampscott Swansea

T 2

Taunton Tewksbury

W 17

Wakefield Walpole Waltham Wareham Watertown Wayland Wellesley West Springfield Westborough Westfield Westford Weymouth Whitman Wilmington Winthrop Woburn Worcester

Y 1

Yarmouth

Frequently Asked Questions About Snow Days in Massachusetts

How much snow does Massachusetts typically get in a winter?

−

Snowfall varies enormously by year and location. A mild winter can drop under 30 inches on eastern Massachusetts, while a rough one buries it: Boston's 2014-2015 season alone brought 110.6 inches, a modern record fueled by four separate blizzards in under a month. Western hill towns in Berkshire and Franklin counties typically run heavier than the coast, no matter how that season shakes out.

What actually triggers a snow day in Massachusetts?

There's no statewide snow-day law; Massachusetts leaves it to each of its roughly 400 school districts. Superintendents typically decide by 5 a.m., weighing overnight forecasts, DPW plow reports, and whether buses can safely reach rural stops. A storm arriving during the morning commute closes more schools than the same snowfall total falling harmlessly overnight while everyone sleeps.

Why does the Berkshires get so much more snow than Boston?

Elevation and distance from the moderating ocean both matter. Pittsfield and the Berkshire plateau sit roughly 1,000 to 2,000 feet above sea level, cold enough that precipitation falls as snow more often, and storms crossing from the Great Lakes region pick up extra moisture on the western slopes before reaching the Connecticut River Valley. Boston's harbor keeps winter air several degrees warmer.

Has Massachusetts ever closed schools for ice rather than snow?

Yes, the December 11-12, 2008 ice storm is the clearest example. Interior Worcester County took the worst of it, with up to 1.5 inches of ice coating power lines and trees. Up to 500,000 customers statewide lost power, some for over a week, and districts stayed closed for icy roads and dark buildings rather than snow depth.

Do Massachusetts schools still call full snow days, or switch to remote learning?

Both happen. Many districts adopted remote learning days after COVID-era investments in Chromebooks and hotspots, converting what used to be a lost day into a virtual one, especially for a single bad-forecast morning. But when storms knock out power or block roads for buses, districts still call full in-person closures rather than assume every student has power and internet at home.

What time do Massachusetts schools usually announce a snow day?

Most districts decide between 5 and 6 a.m. so buses aren't already en route, though a storm that's clearly going to intensify can trigger an evening-before closure. Districts publish decisions through robocall or text alert systems, local TV news crawls, and district websites, not any single statewide hotline, since Massachusetts has no centralized snow-day announcement system.