Winter Storm Hercules unleashed heavy snow, ferocious winds and brutal cold from the Great Lakes into the Northeast and New England Thursday, and the storm was expected to gain strength overnight along the highly-populated I-95 corridor. Even though the heart of Hercules is forecast to plow into New England overnight, impressive snowfall reports were already coming out of Massachusetts. The National Weather Service said 21 inches of snow had fallen in Boxford, just north of Boston, by Thursday night, while other parts of the state had 17 or 18 inches. The storm is expected to impact more than 100 million people in the Midwest and Northeast combined.