North Shore Snow Totals Some Of MA's Highest In February Storm

SALEM, MA — While Friday's February snowstorm may have lacked some of the harsh impacts of winter blasts from earlier in the season, accumulations across the North Shore did approach the highest in the state and forecasts of up to 12 inches of snow.

Because of a lack of wind, tide concerns and the February vacation school week, many were able to enjoy an extra day at home or even a day out in the fluffy stuff with kids and pets. Most North Shore cities and towns also closed municipal offices and buildings to keep the roads clear of traffic while snow removal crews did their thing.

But while the storm was hardly devastating by New England standards, it did bring quite a bit of fresh powder to the North Shore.

According to National Weather Service snow spotters, northwest Peabody came in at the top of the snow pile in Essex County with 10 inches as of 7 p.m. There were reports of 9 inches of snow in Salem and Rockport, 8.5 inches in Swampscott, 8 inches in Danvers and 7.8 inches in Beverly.

Most of the highest reports came in during the late afternoon as the accumulating snow waned.

The North Shore totals challenged some of the top counts in the state with cities and towns 15 to 25 miles northwest of Boston recording the highest totals of all.

According to the NWS, Woburn checked in at 10.7 inches, Winchester was at 10.5 and both Lexington and Bedford had spotters reporting 10.3 inches.

Cities and towns south of the Mass. Pike saw lesser totals as sleet mixed in with the flakes during the morning height of the storm.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)