UPDATE: This post has been updated to include new information from the National Weather Service, MassDOT and the State Police about the impacts of winter weather this morning.
REGION – Forecasters warn that freezing rain will make for an icy Christmas Day today, with rain producing accumulating ice on roadways and other surfaces.
The Boston office of the National Weather Service is warning ice may continue to pile up into the mid-afternoon. Likewise, the state Department of Transportation has taken precautions on I-495, issuing warnings of black ice between Marlborough and the Massachusetts/New Hampshire border.
The State Police are reporting “flash freeze conditions” and multiple accidents along roads.
“Freezing rain is the worst,” noted one graphic shared by the National Weather Service last night.
The National Weather Service posted radar forecasts Friday, predicting that freezing rain would move into the area around 6 a.m. and linger as late at 5 p.m.
The National Weather Service put all of Massachusetts under a winter weather advisory, with the exception of Cape Cod, and warned that slippery roadways would be “likely.”
This comes after a coating of snow caused a number of traffic accidents in the area on Friday morning.
That included an incident on Route 9 in Westborough near the offramp to East Main Street where a car crashed and flipped onto its side.
Westborough firefighters responded and shared a photo of the scene just before 8 a.m.
“Use caution this morning when driving as roads are a little slick,” they wrote in a social media post accompanying that photo. “We want you to safely get to your destinations! Take it slow!”
Westborough Police posted their own warning just over a half hour later, at that point reporting “several” crashes along Route 9 in the area around Computer Drive.
Almost simultaneously, in Hopkinton, first responders were on the scene of a fatal car accident near the Fruit Street overpass on I-495.
State Police said a Framingham man died after his truck crashed into the overpass’ abutment around 8:27 a.m.
Westborough Fire Department personnel joined Hopkinton firefighters and State Police troopers in responding to the incident, according to a post shared by the fire department on social media.
The state Department of Transportation announced a 40 mile-per-hour speed restriction on I-90 from the New York/Massachusetts state line though the I-90/I-495 interchange in Westborough just before 9 a.m.
The state then lifted that restriction shortly before noon.
“We realize today is a big travel day and folks are excited to get where they’re going,” Hopkinton firefighters wrote in a social media post Friday morning. “We want you to get there safely. Please slow down and be cautious!”
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