Massachusetts
Will Massachusetts see a white Christmas? Here’s what Farmers’ Almanac forecast says
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You can’t always count on Old Saint Nick (or Mother Nature) to make a white Christmas.
Thankfully, you can rely on the Farmers’ Almanac to give their best prediction on what the weather is going to be like in Massachusetts on Christmas Day.
“Here is your Christmas forecast,” the Farmers’ Almanac website said. The prediction covers from Christmas Eve, December 24, until Wednesday, December 27, 2024.
Farmers’ Almanac separated its Christmas weather predictions into zones for various regions of the country. The almanac sectioned off New England and the Northeast into Zone 1, which encompasses New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Washington D.C.
Will it snow on Christmas in Massachusetts
“Wet snow bringing a white Christmas to the north,” the forecast said. “Rain showers to the south.”
The almanac is predicting that Massachusetts will see wet snow this Christmas Day, and thus a white Christmas.
New York, Delaware, Pennsylvania and the other states could constitute the southern part comprised in Zone 1.
What are the odds of having a white Christmas in Massachusetts?
The odds of having a White Christmas in Massachusetts aren’t as high as you might think.
“On any given year, the Boston metro area has about a 25%-40% chance of having a white Christmas,” meteorologist Bill Leatham, of the National Weather Service in Norton told the USA Today Network last December. “As you move to the Northwest, that probability increases. Central Massachusetts would have about a 50% chance, and areas like the Berkshires would have a 75% chance.”
At the other end of the spectrum, the Cape and Islands typically have a 10%-25% chance of a white Christmas in any given year.
For it to count as a white Christmas, there needs to be at least an inch of snow on the ground.
What will the weather be like on New Years Eve
“Year ends on a blustery, colder note, with frequent snow showers,” the almanac’s detailed forecast said concerning the Northeast and New England.
Seth Jacobson contributed to this report.
Rin Velasco is a trending reporter. She can be reached at rvelasco@gannett.com.
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Elizabeth LaBrecque says the Taunton Area Chamber of Commerce created its Government Affairs Council for a very good reason.
“The idea is for legislators to help local businesses,” said LeBrecque, whose job description at the TACC is Director of Member Development.
LaBrecque, says the cost of health insurance continues to be a major concern among small and large businesses.
“Health insurance is always a major factor,” she said.
A survey of 635 small businesses in the Bay State, conducted in October 2024 by the UMass Donahue Institute in Amherst, found that 63% of respondent business owners – who offer employee health insurance and employ up to 50 full-time workers – strongly agreed with the statement that small businesses and employees in the commonwealth “have to pay higher health insurance premiums than big businesses and government.”
That sentiment was echoed by John Hurst, president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts.
“Health insurance has gone through the roof,” said Hurst, who has been president of the statewide business association for 35 years.
Hurst said that he and his retailers association regularly communicate with state legislators to make their concerns heard.
“And more importantly we urge our members to do that,” he said. “They are the small employers and voters in the legislators’ districts.”
The 4,000-member group also has an online “advocacy center” that connects members with legislators.
The Retailers Association of Massachusetts requested that UMass Donahue Institute conduct its survey, which included 635 respondents. The final report based on the survey results was completed in March of 2025.
Hurst also says that as of Jan. 1, 2025, the cost of health insurance for small businesses in the state had increased 13% since 2020.
LaBrecque said the TACC and its seven-member Government Affairs Council is also concerned about cost increases for other types of insurance coverage, which can include workers compensation, general liability and business owner’s policy.
It’s been three and a half years since LeBrecque came on board with the Taunton Area Chamber of Commerce – which also represents the interests of member business owners in the towns of Raynham, Dighton and Berkley. She says the TACC this past year reached a goal of 450 active members as compared to 250 when she was hired to her part-time position.
Some of those newer members, she said, also belong to other commerce chambers representing businesses in cities and towns like Fall River, New Bedford, Bridgewater and Easton.
The TACC, she said, continues to work closely with Taunton-based nonprofit SEED (South Eastern Economic Development Corporation), which provides low-interest business loans, as well as SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives), a nonprofit sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Association that holds workshops and provides counseling to budding entrepreneurs.
The chamber’s website also lists a number of state and federal business resources and includes a City of Taunton Business and Development Guide created by Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District (SRPEDD) as well as a Town of Dighton Business Guide.
LaBrecque said trade tariffs imposed this year by the administration of President Donald Trump initially created concern among local beauty salon proprietors. But those fears of paying higher prices for certain products, she said, have since been allayed.
“There’s been a lot of uncertainty this year. It’s been a rocky economy,” LaBrecque said, adding that “we’re telling all our new businesses to spend wisely.”
BOSTON (WWLP) – Five Regional Transit Authorities and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) have secured $105.7 million in federal funding to modernize their bus fleets and facilities.
The funding, sourced from the Federal Transit Administration’s Low or No Emissions Grant Program and the Buses and Bus Facilities Program, will be used to purchase zero and low-emission buses and upgrade transit facilities across Massachusetts.
“Low and no emission buses deliver smoother rides, lower costs, and healthier air,” said Governor Maura Healey. “These funds will help regional transit authorities across the state purchase new buses and deliver the service that the people of Massachusetts deserve.”
The following projects received grant funding:
Low or No Emission Grant Program Awards (Total: $98,381,757):
- Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA): $78.6 million
- Merrimack Valley Transit Authority (MeVa): $7.2 million
- Lowell Regional Transit Authority (LRTA): $7.2 million
- Berkshire Regional Transit Authority (BRTA): $5.4 million
Buses & Bus Facilities Program Awards (Total: $7,475,955):
- Pioneer Valley Transit Authority (PVTA): $4.5 million
- Berkshire Regional Transit Authority (BRTA): $3 million
“PVTA is pleased to receive this significant award from the FTA’s Bus and Bus Facility Discretionary Grant Program,” said PVTA Administrator Sandra Sheehan. “This grant will enable us to maintain the Northampton Operations and Maintenance facility in a state of good repair, which is crucial for improving the safety, capacity, and reliability of our entire transit system as we work to meet growing demand as we expand service.”
Governor Healey expressed gratitude towards the team at MassDOT, the MBTA, regional transit authorities, and Senators Warren and Markey for their leadership in securing the funding.
The federal funding is expected to enhance public transportation in Massachusetts by providing cleaner, more efficient bus services, benefiting both commuters and the environment.
Local News Headlines
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Download the 22News Plus app on your TV to watch live-streaming newscasts and video on demand.
All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by WWLP. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat information into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by WWLP staff before being published.
Massachusetts
Cape Cod lobsterman scores win in fight against local Massachusetts red tape: ‘This is politics’
A lifelong Cape Cod lobsterman has received overwhelming support in his fight for survival, helping him claw through bureaucratic red tape that could revive a nearly century-old family tradition of selling lobsters from his home.
Yarmouth resident Jon Tolley says he is still wary of whether town officials in the mid-Cape Cod town will allow him to reopen his shop next year at his home, even after residents approved a bylaw that opens the door for him to do so.
“The whole town was behind me,” Tolley told the Herald via phone on Friday. “I knew they were going to be. It’s a sad thing. One person complains, and then I have to go through all of this, get lawyers and everything. For what reason? For no reason.”
The 66-year-old has caught lobsters out of Sesuit Harbor in Dennis and sold the fresh crustaceans from his home in West Yarmouth for nearly his entire life. As a youngster, he helped his father, Fred, run the family business on the same property before he took over operations in 1975.
Despite Tolley’s success over the decades, town officials forced him to operate elsewhere this past season amid a controversy that blindsided the fisherman and his neighbors.
The battle with the town began in late August 2024 when Tolley received a violation notice that he said startled him. Zoning bylaws banned retail lobster sales in a residential district, the notice stated.
An unnamed West Yarmouth resident complained about a business sign Tolley put out on Route 28, the town’s main corridor, prompting the fight, according to town officials. Tolley has argued that the complaint came from a Yarmouth police officer.
Yarmouth allowed the retail sale of fish as a commercial use in the residential district by right and without further permission until 1982.
The Zoning Board of Appeals shot down Tolley’s two appeals for a variance, which would have let him continue selling the locally harvested lobster from where his father opened up shop in 1957.
Town officials and Tolley settled on a compromise for the 2025 season.
The lobsterman found a private vacant lot along Route 28 to sell his lobsters, from where he said he found reasonable success, while the Planning Board drafted an amendment to the zoning bylaw.
Residents at a Town Meeting this week eagerly raised their hands in support of the amendment, which allows fishermen to sell their legally caught live lobsters at their homes via a ZBA-issued special permit. Less than a handful of attendees disapproved.
“In theory, even though it is a bylaw now, they can still vote no,” Tolley said of the ZBA. “See what I mean? They can vote no, and of course, you take them to court, and you win in one second because it is a bylaw.”
“All of this is politics,” he added.
In a video previewing the Town Meeting, Town Manager Robert Whritenour called the lobster bylaw his “favorite” article that residents would be voting on. He described Tolley’s situation as “quite a kerfuffle.”
The bylaw, Whritenour said, will “provide a process to enable a fisherman to sell live lobsters out of a residential location, obviously under certain safeguards to protect the integrity of the neighborhood, but that addresses … concerns.”
Residents at the Town Meeting voiced their outrage over how lobster sales became controversial.
Resident Sally Johnson said she’s been a “very strong advocate” of Tolley’s. She pointed to how she felt the ZBA chairman was “very intimidating to his board and to the community in the building” during a meeting in April.
The chairman, Sean Igoe, blocked Tolley’s attorney, Jonathan Polloni, from arguing his client’s case and the dozens of residents in support, who flocked to Town Hall, from expressing how they viewed the business as not a detriment to the community.
Residents shouted out their sharp disappointment: “Read the room!” “Dictatorship!” “Generations are leaving Cape Cod!” “You will only have millionaires living here!”
“It is absolutely ridiculous that it’s gotten to this point,” Johnson said on Monday. “It has mushroomed into chaos.”
Tolley has sued the town over his battle, filing a complaint in land court. Following a July hearing, the court encouraged the lobsterman and officials to “consider the possibility of mediation or remand of this matter to avoid the time, expense, and risk of further litigation.”
As of Friday, the case wasn’t scheduled to be heard again until next March, according to records.
“It’s a shame Jon had to fight this battle,” resident Cheryl Ball, who leads the group, Cape Cod Concerned Citizens, told the Herald, “but I’m thankful our community and several board members stepped up to support him. We need to continue to defend Cape Cod’s culture before it’s completely eroded.”
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