Snow Descends; City Carries On

Nine inches of heavy snow descended on the Cambridge area yesterday, the second largest accumulation of the year.

Road clearing proceeded rapidly throughout the day because of the normally light Sunday traffic. Railroads, bus lines, and the MTA were able to maintain full service, although frequent delays were reported. Logan Airport, however, was closed until early this morning. All forms of transportation were expected to be operating normally today.

The new snow, together with the 34.7 inches which has fallen previously this winter, exceeds the average accumulation for the Cambridge area over an entire year.

The thunder and lightning which accompanied the snow storm is a rarity that occurs only once every three or four years, according to Alan F. Cook II, Lecturer on Astronomy. These phenomena, usually associated with summer storms, were caused by unusually violent vertical wind motions resulting from large temperature differences among the layers of the atmosphere, according to Cook.