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Photos: Intense Snowstorm Hits Mass. — And Then Hardy New Englanders Dig Out

Birds take off from the snowy Charles River after a gust wind spooks them. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
Birds take off from the snowy Charles River after a gust wind spooks them. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

After Thursday's heavy snowfall and whipping winds, eastern Massachusetts residents, shovels at the ready, took to the tough task Friday morning of digging out cars and uncovering sidewalks.

Our photographers went out to capture all the magic and misery of dealing with New England's first major snowstorm of the year. Here's what they saw:

As Reed Alexander shovels his out his car on Banks Street in Cambridge, his dog Widget jumps into the snow he throws onto the snowbank across the street. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
As Reed Alexander shovels his out his car on Banks Street in Cambridge, his dog Widget jumps into the snow he throws onto the snowbank across the street. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
People navigate their way through snowbanks as they cross a street in downtown Boston. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
People navigate their way through snowbanks as they cross a street in downtown Boston. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Visitors to Long Wharf bundle up against the cold. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Visitors to Long Wharf bundle up against the cold. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Mollie Lane carries a shovel-full of snow down the street to a pile while digging her car out in the South Boston neighborhood of Boston. (Charles Krupa/AP)
Mollie Lane carries a shovel-full of snow down the street to a pile while digging her car out in the South Boston neighborhood of Boston. (Charles Krupa/AP)
A sign by a building in the seaport warns of falling ice. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
A sign by a building in the seaport warns of falling ice. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Half hidden by a snow bank, a woman walks through downtown Boston. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Half hidden by a snow bank, a woman walks through downtown Boston. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Pedestrians walk in the frigid air in Kendall Square. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
Pedestrians walk in the frigid air in Kendall Square. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
Tossing a shovelful of snow over the railings, Wilson Montano clears a deck at the Whiskey Priest bar on the waterfront. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Tossing a shovelful of snow over the railings, Wilson Montano clears a deck at the Whiskey Priest bar on the waterfront. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

Photos From The Day Of The Storm

It was clear Thursday morning that many Bostonians were heeding warnings from public safety officials to stay indoors. But while the streets were relatively quiet then, the storm was becoming anything but.

WBUR's Bruce Gellerman, who was at the Cape Thursday afternoon — where wind gusts were recorded at around 75 miles per hour in some places — described the storm as "nasty" and "wild."

WBUR's meteorologist David Epstein said the powerful nor'easter had "quickly increas[ed] [its] intensity" throughout the afternoon, before slowing down Thursday evening ahead of frigid temperatures.

By the storm's end, eastern Massachusetts saw at least a foot of snow, and Boston broke a record with its water levels at high tide. Major flooding was at the center of stories about the destruction the storm caused, Epstein said.

Here are dispatches from our photographers and reporters who braved the worst of the wind and wetness as our first major nor'easter of 2018 raged across Massachusetts.

Joe Ferry, of Rockport, runs between waves out onto a flooded T Wharf to retrieve his car before it gets submerged by ocean water. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
Joe Ferry, of Rockport, runs between waves out onto a flooded T Wharf to retrieve his car before it gets submerged by ocean water. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
A car sits in floodwaters from Boston Harbor on Long Wharf in Boston. (Michael Dwyer/AP)
(Michael Dwyer/AP)
Graphic designer Pradit Sakkara takes an afternoon walk through the snowstorm along Commonwealth Avenue (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Graphic designer Pradit Sakkara takes an afternoon walk through the snowstorm along Commonwealth Avenue (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
At Copley Square snow blows down the stairs from the street and out onto the station platform. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
At Copley Square snow blows down the stairs from the street and out onto the station platform. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Workers place sand bags in front of Aquarium subway station to protect against flooding from Boston Harbor. (Michael Dwyer/AP)
Workers place sand bags in front of Aquarium subway station to protect against flooding from Boston Harbor. (Michael Dwyer/AP)
MBTA staff work to move a bus stuck across Boylston Street in front of the Boston Public Library. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
MBTA staff work to move a bus stuck across Boylston Street in front of the Boston Public Library. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Shayla Walker and Hannah Leahey battle the wind and snow at they walk down Commonwealth Avenue in the snowstorm. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Shayla Walker and Hannah Leahey battle the wind and snow at they walk down Commonwealth Avenue in the snowstorm. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Boston firefighters work at the scene of flooding from Boston Harbor on Long Wharf in Boston. (Michael Dwyer/AP)
Boston firefighters work at the scene of flooding from Boston Harbor on Long Wharf in Boston. (Michael Dwyer/AP)
Snow plows clear Boylston Street at the height of the storm. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Snow plows clear Boylston Street at the height of the storm. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
A cyclist finds a recently shoveled lane of Boylston Street to cycle along. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
A cyclist finds a recently shoveled lane of Boylston Street to cycle along. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
In white-out conditions, two men push a car stuck in the deep snow in Rockport. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
In white-out conditions, two men push a car stuck in the deep snow in Rockport. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
At high tide, ocean water floods T Wharf in Rockport. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
At high tide, ocean water floods T Wharf in Rockport. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
Ocean water begins to submerge a car on T Wharf in Rockport at high tide. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
Ocean water begins to submerge a car on T Wharf in Rockport at high tide. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
Pedestrians cross the street in Downtown Boston. (Michael Dwyer/AP)
Pedestrians cross the street in Downtown Boston. (Michael Dwyer/AP)
People with luggage walk through the snow in Boston. (Michael Dwyer/AP)
People with luggage walk through the snow in Boston. (Michael Dwyer/AP)
A woman walks in blowing snow in downtown Boston. (Michael Dwyer/AP)
A woman walks in blowing snow in downtown Boston. (Michael Dwyer/AP)
Snowplows are getting in place as the snowfall becomes heavier in Boston. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Snowplows are getting in place as the snowfall becomes heavier in Boston. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
A worker clearing snow off the sidewalk with a broom in Boston's Copley Square. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
A worker clearing snow off the sidewalk with a broom in Boston's Copley Square. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
A man walks down the path across the bridge over the pond in the Boston Public Garden on Thursday, Jan. 4. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
A man walks down the path across the bridge over the pond in the Boston Public Garden on Thursday, Jan. 4. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
A church in Hubbardston, a town in central Massachusetts, during the storm. (David Boeri/WBUR)
A church in Hubbardston, a town in central Massachusetts, during the storm. (David Boeri/WBUR)
A skateboarder chases his runaway skateboard in the snow at the Boston Public Garden. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
A skateboarder chases his runaway skateboard in the snow at the Boston Public Garden. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
A man sweeping snow off the sidewalk on Broadway in Kendall Square. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
A man sweeping snow off the sidewalk on Broadway in Kendall Square. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
As snow falls at the start of the snowstorm, a Green Line train pulls into a deserted station on Commonweath Ave. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
As snow falls at the start of the snowstorm, a Green Line train pulls into a deserted station on Commonweath Ave. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Light traffic on the Mass. Pike at rush hour as a snowstorm approaches Boston. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Light traffic on the Mass. Pike at rush hour as a snowstorm approaches Boston. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

Here's a 360 video from WBUR's Elizabeth Gillis of the BU Bridge as the sun comes up and snow begins to pick up (best to view on a desktop or here):

All is quiet at the South Station train station just before the snow begins to fall. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
All is quiet at the South Station train station just before the snow begins to fall. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
On Wednesday night, Stop & Shop customers in South Boston stocked up on water to prepare for Thursday's storm. (Rachel Paiste/WBUR)
On Wednesday night, Stop & Shop customers in South Boston stocked up on water to prepare for Thursday's storm. In Brookline's Coolidge Corner, nearly all milk and egg products were gone Wednesday night, and many other shelves were bare. (Rachel Paiste/WBUR)
Road salt was loaded into trucks at Eastern Minerals Inc. on Wednesday in Chelsea, Mass. The National Weather Service has issued a blizzard warning for Thursday that extends from Block Island, R.I., north to coastal Maine. (Bill Sikes/AP)
Road salt was loaded into trucks at Eastern Minerals Inc. on Wednesday in Chelsea, Mass. The National Weather Service has issued a blizzard warning for Thursday that extends from Block Island, R.I., north to coastal Maine. (Bill Sikes/AP)

This article was originally published on January 04, 2018.

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