1,000-plus power outages reported amid minor winter storm in Massachusetts

More than 1,000 Massachusetts businesses and households were without power Friday morning as a weak winter storm was sweeping through the state.

As of around 6:45 a.m., 1,296 electrical outages were reported across the eastern portion of the state, according to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency’s online outage map, which is updated using data from the state’s four power companies every 15 to 30 minutes.

The map showed 807 outages in Boston, 311 in Plymouth and a couple dozen in Leverett, Barnstable and Montague. The vast majority of the businesses or households without electricity, 1,171, were Eversource customers.

Despite the nearly 1,300 outages, the overnight storm was more minor than forecasters initially anticipated.

The National Weather Service first expected 1 to 3 inches of snow would fall throughout the state from late Thursday through early Friday. However, the agency later decreased its expected snowfall totals.

“With the back edge of the precipitation starting to move out and not enough cold air locked in place, we’ve reduced our snowfall amounts accordingly,” the weather service wrote in a tweet Thursday night.

By the time the storm’s over Friday morning, as much as 1 to 2 inches of snow is expected to have fallen on parts of Cape Cod, while the rest of the state should see less than an inch. The Berkshires may receive little to no accumulations, according to the weather service.

Wind gusts largely matched forecasters’ expectations but were a bit weaker on the Cape than initially anticipated. Shortly after 5 a.m., gusts clocked in at 32 miles per hour in Chatham, 30 mph in Boston, 26 mph in Worcester and 33 mph in the Springfield area, according to the weather service.

The strongest gusts were occurring around 5 a.m. and are expected to persist until 7 to 8 a.m before slowly subsiding, meteorologists said.

The gusty north winds are bringing colder air into southern New England. Dry and blustery conditions are expected throughout Friday, with afternoon highs only reaching the upper 30s and lower 40s, according to forecasters.

Low temperatures at night are expected to dip to 24 degrees on the Cape, 25 degrees in Boston, 22 degrees in Worcester, 19 degrees in Springfield, 16 degrees in Pittsfield and 13 degrees in North Adams.

The chilly weather marks “Old Man Winter’s last hurrah,” the weather service noted. A warm up is forecast Saturday, the first day of spring. Temperatures Friday will range from the upper 40s in the Berkshires and on the Cape to the mid 50s throughout the rest of the state.