WMass residents ready, but not necessarily happy, now that winter is here

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. (WWLP) - Ice scrapers and snow shovels were on hand Thursday morning, as western Massachusetts saw its first significant snowfall of the season.

From the Lower Pioneer Valley to northern Franklin County, residents saw anywhere from a few inches to a foot of snow.

Everywhere in our area, people spent the morning shoveling, snowblowing, sanding, and salting their driveways and sidewalks; something New Englanders know to expect every season.

“It's good to get it every once in awhile,” Jeffrey Gummeson of Hadley said. “Too much can be overwhelming, but we haven't had too much this year.”

“I’m used to it,” Wanda Kelly of Pelham said. “I lived in Florida for 12 years, so I came back to this and am sort of not really liking it too much.”

Hampshire County saw some of the highest snowfall totals in western Mass. In lower-lying areas such as Northampton, only about four inches of snow fell, but in the northwestern portion of the county, toward Plainfield, Cummington, and Worthington, they received up to a foot of snow.