Snow Cancels Swampscott Public Schools Thursday

SWAMPSCOTT, MA — Swampscott Public Schools were canceled on Thursday with a quick-moving winter storm expected to bring up to 4 inches of snow to the North Shore from mid-morning into the afternoon.

• Icy, Snowy, Messy Thursday Mix Across MA: See Storm Timeline

While snow totals are not forecast to be particularly high — 2 to 4 inches across the state with higher amounts in the Merrimack Valley and Worcester Hills and lesser amounts near the South Shore and South Coast — it will be a messy one with the National Weather Service saying on Wednesday that snow will rapidly overspread the region between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. on Thursday.

"The snow may be briefly heavy with 2 to 3 inches in just a couple hours," the NWS said. "Snow then changes to sleet/light freezing rain with diminishing intensity. Temps remain near or below freezing through Thursday afternoon."

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