(Courtesy photo) Scenes like this -- a resident and his snowblower almost fully obscured by blowing snow as he undertakes snow-removal operations -- were common throughout the area during Saturday's blizzard.

NASHUA — Hudson came out on top among Greater Nashua communities for total snowfall accumulation from Saturday’s nor’easter, but to anyone who was out walking or driving, especially during its peak in the late morning through mid-afternoon time frame, it was the intensity, not the final score, that will be most remembered.

For the record, according to the National Weather Service (www.weather.gov), 12.3 inches was measured in Hudson, while Nashua was second at 11 inches. And west of Nashua, Amherst and Milford each recorded 7.5 inches.

The jackpot in New Hampshire, according to the NWS, was in Rockingham County. The upscale seaside town of Rye had the state’s highest accumulation with 13.5 inches, while Northwood, which is on the western side of Rockingham on the border of Merrimack County, came in a close second with 13.2 inches, followed by third-place finisher Stratham, with 13 inches even.

That the storm was a true nor’easter resulted in the highest accumulations in coastal and central interior New Hampshire, forecasters explained. While western New Hampshire, from Cheshire County to the Upper Valley and into Coos County, typically report the state’s highest snowfall numbers, the deepest snow from this storm in Grafton County was just 4.8 inches, recorded at Sugar Hill, while Gorham and Northumberland, in Coos County measured a mere 4 and 3 inches, respectively.

The town of Rindge, with 8.6 inches, was the highest in Cheshire County; Keene had 7.8 inches.

Also fairly unusual is the fact that most of eastern Massachusetts had higher snow totals than northern New England.

For instance, the Norfolk County town of Stoughton was number one in New England with 30.9 inches, according to the NWS. Nearby Sharon was a close second at 30.4 inches, and Quincy took a solid third place with 30 inches even.

Meanwhile, Boston’s 24.5 inches set a record for most snow in a single day.

Closer to Greater Nashua, numerous Middlesex County cities and towns came in with significantly higher accumulations. Among them were Wakefield and Burlington, which recorded 22.4 and 22.3 inches, respectively. Our neighbor Tyngsborough picked up 14.1 inches; Dracut reported 14.2 inches.

Looking ahead, forecasters expect the area’s temperatures to climb slowly out of the single-digits over the next few days, and come Thursday readings may flirt with the 50-degree mark.

As for power outages, few customers in Greater Nashua lost power during the storm and were promptly restored.

A two-alarm fire broke out in a Hudson home Saturday morning, just as the storm was shifting into high gear. (See separate story).

In Nashua, police recorded in the neighborhood of three dozen snow-emergency parking violations., most all of them on inner-city streets and city-owned lots.

Parking on the street or in city lots is prohibited during a snow emegency, which was in effect from Saturday morning through Sunday.

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.