The Associated Press
HARTFORD, Conn.–Residents in the U.S. northeast dug out from as much as two feet of wet, heavy snow today while utilities dealt with downed trees and electric lines that snarled traffic and left hundreds of thousands without power after two strong nor’easters in less than a week–all with possibility of another storm in the wings.
With many schools closed for a second-straight day today, forecasters tracked the possibility of yet another late-season snowstorm to run up the coast early next week.
“The strength of it and how close it comes to the coast will make all the difference. At this point it’s too early to say,” said Jim Nodchey, a U.S. National Weather Service meteorologist in Massachusetts.
“We’re just looking at a chance.”
Snow still was falling today in southern Maine, where the storm was expected to move on by midday.
More than 800,000 customers were without power in the northeast, including some who have been without electricity since last Friday’s destructive nor’easter.
Thousands of flights across the region were cancelled, and travelling on the ground was treacherous.
A train carrying more than 100 passengers derailed in Wilmington, Mass. after a fallen tree branch got wedged in a rail switch.
Nobody was hurt.
In New Hampshire, Interstate 95 in Portsmouth was closed in both directions because of downed power lines, leaving traffic at a standstill.
Amtrak restored modified service between New York City and Boston today after suspending it because of the storm.
Steve Marchillo, a finance director at the University of Connecticut’s Hartford branch, said he enjoyed the sight of heavily snow-laden trees on his way into work today but they also made him nervous.
“It looks cool as long as they don’t fall down on you and you don’t lose power,” he remarked.
The Mount Snow ski area in Dover, Vt. received 31 inches of snow by this morning, with more still falling.
The resort said the snowfall from the past two storms would set it up for skiing through the middle of April.
Montville, N.J., meanwhile, got more than 26 inches from yesterday’s nor’easter.
North Adams, Mass. registered 24 inches while Sloatsburg, N.Y. got 26 inches.
Major cities along the Interstate 95 corridor saw much less.
The storm was not as severe as the nor’easter that toppled trees, flooded coastal communities, and caused more than two million power outages from Virginia to Maine last Friday.
But it still proved to be a headache for the tens of thousands of customers still in the dark from the earlier storm –and for the crews trying to restore power to them.
