Our daily column, 5 Things You Need to Know Today, will help you to get your day started and offer you some fodder for water cooler conversation.

1. This snowstorm officially became the Blizzard of 2013 late Friday night, when Massachusetts had sustained winds of more than 35 miles per hour for at least 3 hours. The National Weather Service in Boston had a report of a gust of 76 miles per hour - hurricane force winds - Friday night at Logan Airport in Boston.

2. As of 1:30 a.m., NSTAR was reporting no power outages in Framingham. If you lose power during the storm, please call NSTAR at 1-800-592-2000.

3. The Town of Framingham declared a state of emergency and activated its emergency operations center Friday afternoon. Call 508-532-5800 to report any storm-related issues - down wires, trees, power outages, etc.

Town offices - except for emergency workers and DPW workers - closed at 11:30 a.m. on Friday. The libraries will be closed on Saturday.

The town as of 6 p.m. had not activated any shelters. If any residents loses heat & electricity and feels they need a shelter, they should call 2-1-1 or the Framingham operation center at 508-532-5800. Wilson Elementary School will open, if a shelter is needed.

The Governor declared a state of emergency at noon. He also issued an executive order banning drivers from being on the roads after 4 p.m. Friday.

As of 1:30 a.m. it is still in effect. It is unknown when it will be lifted, but during a press conference at Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency headquarters in Framingham Friday, he indicated it would unlikely be before the 1 p.m. Bruins game (Note: The Bruins game now has been changed to 7 p.m. today, Feb. 9)

Residents should still call 9-1-1 for any emergencies.

4. As of 1 a.m. a ham radio operator reported to the National Weather Service that Framingham had 18 inches of snow. Another ham radio operated reported to the Service Natick had 15 inches of snow.

5. All of the information for this 5 things was already published on the Framingham Patch site in our Storm Central Report. We have been updating that report since Thursday morning. For complete up-to-the minute updates, click on that report, at this link.

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