Montpelier
The storm caused power outages and numerous highway accidents. About 11,600 electricity customers across Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine were in the dark by late morning. A winter storm warning remained in effect for much of the region through the afternoon.
“This is Mother Nature’s idea of an April Fools’ joke,” said meteorologist Eric Schwibs of the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine.
Residents in White River Junction were feeling the storm’s effects — and coping with its aftermath.
At about 6:30 a.m., Gary Schlicting said he heard the unmistakable cracking sound of a tree breaking from the weight of the snow. When he looked out the window, he said, he saw that one trunk of a two-trunked tree from a neighboring property across from his Maple Street apartment had toppled onto a car parked in another neighbor’s driveway.
“April Fools on us,” said Schlicting, who said his muscles hurt from shoveling, while the wet and cold was causing his joints to ache.
The car, a blue 2001 Ford Taurus, was the first vehicle ever for 22-year-old Katelyn Rousseau, who recently returned to the area after graduating from college and works at a local veterinary clinic.
Rousseau’s mother, Jenette Hicks, said she called Rousseau, crying, to break the news. Rousseau bought the car for $600, and put another $600 into it to make it functional, but it was not insured against this type of damage. The tree smashed the windshield, partially caved in the roof, broke a taillight and caused various other dents and scratches.
Neighbor Art Evans said another portion of the maple tree also fell, damaging the roof of a nearby garage.
Doug Hicks, Hicks’ husband, said he knows winter weather can be fickle in the Upper Valley, but he was finally convinced the season had changed when he saw wormholes in the front lawn, a sign of a thawed ground. The week’s weather fooled him, he said.
“I didn’t think it was going to stick,” he said.
But Schwibs, the meteorologist, said that while it’s disheartening to see snow so late in the season, it’s not unusual. Winter already had brought more snow than normal to northern New England. Concord had 73.8 inches, about 15 inches above normal; Portland, Maine, recorded 84.4 inches of snow, 2 feet above the city’s norm.
The heavy, wet snow caused mass power outages in many places across the region.
In Vermont, the state’s largest electric utility, Green Mountain Power, had more than 21,000 customers back online after they had lost power overnight. About 1,700 remained without service as of Saturday evening.
Kristin Carlson, a vice president for the utility, attributed the company’s repair times to its advanced preparation.
“We brought in additional lineworkers and tree trimmers ahead of the storm, so we have an extensive workforce helping us. Our teams won’t stop until all have power back,” she said in a news release.
Still, with snow continuing to fall in some places and shake off of power lines and trees, GMP said it expected more outages on Saturday, and that some residents may not have their power restored until this evening.
Carlson urged Vermonters to use caution in the meantime.
“People should stay away from down lines, as they may be live and dangerous, and be aware that downed trees could have power lines tangled in them and may also be unsafe,” she said.
Fallen power lines and trees weren’t the only storm-related danger posed to Twin State residents: roads also proved treacherous for drivers.
Snow-related crashes were reported on Saturday on the Maine Turnpike and, in New Hampshire, a loaded tractor-trailer rolled over on Interstate 95 in Hampton, blocking three lanes. The 34-year-old driver, a resident of Chelsea, Mass., was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
And on Friday afternoon, a three-car crash on Interstate 89 north in Hartford injured two people, one critically, according to Vermont State Police. It was snowing at the time of the crash, police said.
In southern New England, the first day of April came in with a wintry mix of snow, sleet and rain, but most accumulation is likely to fade away quickly as more spring-like temperatures were predicted to warm up the region.
Temperatures in the Upper Valley are expected to reach into the upper 40s and low 50s today.
Material from The Associated Press was used in this report. Valley News staff writer Matt Hongoltz-Hetling contributed to this story.