We drove through the Boston area on the Tuesday before the first winter storm of the season and found that anticipation was high.

There is already snow at Nashoba Valley Ski Area in Westford.

“The weather can do almost anything, but we always hope for the best,” said Al Fletcher of Nashoba Valley.

With Christmas just a few weeks away, many people are still trying to pick out a tree. The first storm creates a holiday mood.

“Last year was mild. We tend to go through cycles, so I think this year could be long and cold,” one man said.

At McKay Hardware in Westford, shovels are popular, as is melting the ice.

“Some people are happy to see it snowing. Some people would rather have no snow at all,” said Joel Gagne of McKay Hardware.

In the Nashoba Valley, they hope this storm is an omen of things to come.

“We’ll see how we do with the snowmaking and what the storm will bring, and it looks like cold air on the back so we’ll go back to the snowmaking routine,” Fletcher said.

Places like Nashoba Valley couldn’t survive without snowmaking. They typically produce about 2 feet of snow each season.

We expect mostly rain for Boston as a storm moves through Wednesday into Thursday, although some areas to the west and north will see snow. Here is your First Alert forecast. Follow NBC10 Boston: https://instagram.com/nbc10boston https://tiktok.com/@nbc10boston https://facebook.com/NBC10Boston https://twitter.com/NBC10Boston