Latest MA Nor'easter Forecast: Much Less Snow Than Originally Predicted

MASSACHUSETTS — What a difference 12 hours makes.

Forecasts now show a nor'easter heading for southern New England has shifted south — and with it, the high snow totals that were initially predicted across a big section of the state.

On Monday afternoon, snow totals were downgraded from 8 to 12 inches along the Mass Pike corridor to as little as 2 inches close to Boston. The National Weather Service also shrunk the areas in the state under a winter storm warning. The warning now encompasses southern Worcester County, plus Suffolk, most of Middlesex, Essex, Plymouth, Bristol and Barnstable County.

Here are the new snow total, according to the National Weather Service:

• Boston area — 2 to 4 inches
• Worcester area — 4 to 8 inches
• Framingham area — 4 to 6 inches
• Gloucester area — 2 to 4 inches
• Norwood area — 4 to 8 inches
• Cape Cod — 1 inch, plus rain

But even those totals might be an overestimate. GBH forecaster Dave Epstein predicted 2 to 5 inches for most of the eastern half of the state.

"With a shift south, the storm will not materialize as thought the past couple of days. Will have some updates in the next few hours, but key points are later start tomorrow, no intense hours of snow bands, less accumulation. AM commute may actually be dry," Epstein tweeted Monday afternoon.

The initial high snow forecasts caused a wave of cancelations across the state on Monday, including snow days for major school districts including Boston, Salem, Brookline, Framingham, Falmouth and Medford. Gov. Maura Healey told non-emergency state employees not to report to offices on Tuesday. MassDOT was still warning drivers to be cautious during the storm, which could still make a mess out of local roads.