The US Northeast was in dig-out mode today, a day after a treacherous storm packing strong winds and accompanying plummeting temperatures left some residents dealing with rock-hard ice and others with more than 60cm of snow.
The upshot: a late-season boost to the region's ski areas.The powerful nor'easter that paralysed much of the Washington-to-Boston corridor yesterday fell short of the predicted snowfall in many areas, but the 76cm of snow that fell by today at the Burlington International Airport in Vermont was the second-most on record, about 7.5cm shy of the high established in January 2010.
"Yesterday it was too tough to drive out here, but today it was perfect," said Lindsey Poirier, who was skiing at the Pats Peak ski area in Henniker, New Hampshire. "The conditions are really good. The powder is awesome."
Many schools in New England remain closed or had delayed openings today, giving crews time to dig out from the storm, which followed a stretch of unusually mild winter weather.
Marisa Burgos spun her wheels in her snowy driveway in an attempt to go out and buy some fuel for her snowblower.In Albany, New York, streets were largely cleared. But many cars were still buried under thick blankets of snow.
"I was ready for spring. I really was," Burgos said. "I want to enjoy the weather, but it's just so hard to do that with all this snow."
In Portland, Maine, most roads and pavements were cleared, but firefighters were just getting to work digging out 1500 hydrants.
Most people heeded warnings to stay off the roads, preventing the multicar pileups typically seen after a bad storm, but there were still deaths.
A 16-year-old girl was killed when she lost control of her car on a snowy road and crashed into a tree in Gilford, New Hampshire, police said. In East Hartford, Connecticut, an elderly man died after being struck by a snowplow truck. And, in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, a public works employee was killed after the snowplow he was driving was hit by an Amtrak plow train clearing tracks.
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