Winter Storm Now Mostly Northeast U.S. Problem; Vermont Snowed In, Except Iced In South

Satellite view from yesterday shows the wide ranging
winter storm spreading clouds from Mexico, through
the eastern United States on up into Canada.

While much of the nation begins its recovery form this slow moving winter storm, we in New England are in the thick of it early this morning. 

As usual, I'll give the overview of the storm in general, then zero in on Vermont.

The New York Times used the word "tenacious" to describe this storm, and that's a good word for it.  It began affecting people in earnest Tuesday. Here it is Friday and it's challenging out there in New England, and in parts of southeastern Canada. 

Overall, the storm as of early this morning cut power to at least 300,000 customers in the path of the winter storm, including some here in Vermont. 

An ice storm extended from Texas all the way into central New England, and that ice will continue on into Nova Scotia. Freezing rain was still falling in the Northeast. In some of the more populated areas of central and southern New England, rain was just changing to freezing rain early today as the morning commute got under way.  That'll be a mess!

Nationwide, about 6,400 flights were canceled Thursday and we're already up to more than 2,500 canceled flights today. 

North of the band of ice came a band of snow.  Up to a foot of snow fell from Missouri to New York and as you'll read below, parts of Vermont will receive more than a foot. 

South of the cold air, at least one tornado, possibly several spun up in Alabama. The tornado killed one person and injured several others, three critically, reports AL.com

Flooding was also scattered from Louisiana to West Virginia. 

The storm is moving on into Canada, too.  Environment Canada has put Nova Scotia under a flood alert and ice storm alert.  Heavy rain and melting snow up there is leading to flooding. The rain is forecast to turn to freezing rain today, which will cause major issues with roads, trees and power lines there. 

VERMONT IMPACTS

 Let's face it, it's beautiful out in most of Vermont, but if you want to get anywhere this morning, it's going to be super challenging.  

Glad I don't have to go anywhere today. As of 7:30 a.m.
9.5 inches of snow had accumulated at my place in 
St. Albans, Vermont. Some Vermont towns were
already blowing past a foot of new snow. 

With snow totals in many areas closing in on a foot, first you have to clear all that snow from your vehicle, and your driveway. Then you need to deal with some very snowy roads.

 Moderate to locally heavy snow should continue through this morning's commute. Despite hard work of Vermont state road crews, things won't get better in the short term. 

Judging from the list on VPR, it looks like just about every Vermont school  is closed today. Open schools would definitely be the exception.

If you're in far southern Vermont, it's even worse. Freezing rain and sleet has been, if anything, even worse of a problem than some forecasts. 

As of 6:45 a.m. close to 5,600 customers were without power in southern Vermont, and the trend line of power outages was going up. Springfield endured at least five hours of freezing rain overnight, with at least 0.3 inches of ice accumulation. That's enough to start bringing down branches and power lines. 

Bennington stopped reported conditions after 1 a.m. after a few hours of freezing rain, which to me implies some power issues there.  Vermont Transportation Agency webcams early this morning showed trees sagging under the weight of ice and an iced over Route 7 in Bennington. Sleet crept as far north as Ludlow, according to the National Weather Service in South Burlington. 

For the rest of us, it's snow, snow, snow. In the snow zone, the forecast is playing out as expected, though accumulations will be a little higher than forecast 24 hours ago, and perhaps even a tad higher than the upgraded forecasts from last evening. 

It's early in the morning, so we haven't gotten a full slate of snow reports yet. Considering the storm isn't done yet, what we see is pretty impressive.  

Not all of Vermont enjoyed the heavy snow. Far southern 
parts of the state dealt with freezing rain. Vermont Agency
of Transportation web cam of Route 7 in Bennington shows
little snow, but trees weighed down by ice and 
a dangerously frozen roadway.

As of 7:30 a.m., what snow totals we've gotten show widespread amounts at least approaching a foot from Route 4 north.  It seems like nobody in this region was "cheated" out of snow, as areas that traditionally get a lot of snow in storms have totals matching areas that usually get less.

For example, Huntington, in a snow belt on the western slopes of the Green Mountains reported a foot of snow. South Hero on Lake Champlain, a town that usually gets a little less snow, also reported a foot of snow so far.

Here at my perch in St. Albans, Vermont, I had collected 9.3 inches of new snow, and it was still coming down at a light to moderate pace.  I'll probably end up with near or just under a foot of snow. Some areas of central Vermont will end up with at least 18 inches by the time we're done. 

As usual with storms like this spot troubles come and go, and it's hard to keep up with them. Among the issues I've heard about were these:   

Southbound lanes of Interstate 89 near Sharon and Bethel were closed for a time early this morning due to stuck tractor trailers. Those lanes have since reopened.

As traffic picks up a bit, I'm sure there will be more tie ups to report on Vermont roads.  (I'm so lucky I can work from home today!. Yeah, I'm gloating).

In Burlington, I'd avoid downtown if possible, partly because of the snow and partly because firefighters were fighting what looked like a pretty nasty building fire at the corner of King Street and South Winooski early this morning. (It's the same building where two people died in a fire last year) 

So what's next for us?

The snow will lighten up later this morning, but not stop completely until evening in many areas. Total snow accumulations will be a foot to 18 inches, with locally higher amounts, from Rutland and Windsor counties north. 

Roads will remain hazardous even for the evening commute today due to continued snow, some blowing snow and temperatures too cold for salt to really work great. 

Snow will taper off early tonight and the cleanup can begin in earnest. It's still looking quite cold through Saturday night, so you'll need to bundle up.