Winter Storm Fortis on December 29, 2016.

(NASA/Aqua/MODIS)

At a Glance

Winter Storm Fortis brought heavy snow and strong winds to much of New England.Lake-effect snow will persist through Friday in the Great Lakes snowbelts on the backside of Fortis.Thundersnow was reported in the Boston and Portland, Maine, metro areas Thursday evening.

Winter Storm Fortis clobbered portions of New England with heavy snow and gusty winds on December 28-30. Maine was particularly hard hit with heavy snow and high snowfall rates.

Fortis rapidly intensified near the Northeast coast on December 29th, bringing heavy snow and strong winds to much of New England.

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Snow began spreading across the Northeast on the morning of Dec. 29, though along the Interstate 95 corridor south of Boston, rain was the main precipitation type.

Fortis produced snow totals of a half foot or more in eight states: Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont and West Virginia. Incredible snowfall rates of in parts of Maine on the evening of Dec. 29, leading to snow totals of over two feet.

, early that evening, as well as . More thundersnow reports came in later on the evening of Dec. 29 from , including the , as well as . As if thundersnow weren't enough, a report of, from a heavy lake-effect band.

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This low underwent "," a rapid strengthening within a period of only 24 hours. This system went from a central pressure of 1004 millibars at 1 p.m. Dec. 29 to 976 millibars at 1 a.m. Dec. 30, dropping 28 millibars in 12 hours.

As a result, about a 12- to 18-hour period of heavy snow and strong winds occurred over much of New England.

Snowfall Totals

Here's a list of the highest snowfall totals in each state from Fortis.

Connecticut: 4.5 inches near ColebrookMaine:29.0 inches in Kingfield; 27.0 inches in Naples, Standish, Starks and near OxfordMassachusetts: 10.8 inches in FitchburgMichigan:13.0 inches (estimated) near GaylordNew Hampshire: 20.0 inches in BartlettNew Jersey: 2.9 inches in WantageNew York: 12.8inches in East ConcordPennsylvania: 12.0 inches (estimated) in BradfordVermont: 11.0 inches (estimated) in Westfield​West Virginia:8.0 inches near Cherry Grove

Incidentally, "Fortis" (FOR-tis) is a Latin word for strong.

MORE ON WEATHER.COM: Winter Storm Fortis, December 29-30 2016