BRATTLEBORO — The first big snowstorm of the season left about a foot of snow around Windham County on Nov. 26.
Snowfall amounts reported to the National Weather Service office in Albany, N.Y., ranged from about 9 inches in Hinsdale, N.H., and Marlboro; 10 inches in Saxtons River, Windham, and West Dover; about 11 inches in Dummerston, Westminster, and Rockingham; and 13 inches in Stratton and Townshend.
The storm caused outages across Vermont, but the damage was most severe in southern Vermont, as wet, heavy snow brought down trees and branches onto power lines.
According to Green Mountain Power, there were nearly 15,000 homes in Vermont that lost power at the height of the storm on Nov. 26, with the most outages in Windham County.
Many had their power restored within a few hours, and most got their electricity back by the following morning. GMP said only a few customers in Guilford and Vernon still remained with power the day after Thanksgiving, and by Nov. 29, all of GMP's customers without power got their service restored.
“Having our crews in place when the storm hit helped to restore power quickly,” said GMP spokesperson Dorothy Schnure, in a news release.
With the storm's arrival coming at the precise time when people were taking to the highway for Thanksgiving travel, accidents were almost inevitable.
Vermont State Police Sgt. Jeffrey Trudeau from the Brattleboro barracks reported that troopers assisted more 30 vehicles, including 15 tractor trailer trucks, that got stuck or slid off the road on Route 9 in Marlboro throughout the day on Nov. 26.
Trudeau said Route 9 had to be closed for about four hours to clear the roadway of disabled vehicles. No significant crashes or injuries were reported.
Route 5 in Guilford near the Massachusetts border was also closed for a good part of the day on Nov. 26, after a dump truck accident took down a utility pole and dumped a load of hot asphalt on the roadway.
There were several accidents on Interstate 91, but no serious injuries were reported.
Main roads were open for travel by Thanksgiving morning, and events in Brattleboro such as the annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner at the River Garden and the Turkey Trot road race went off as scheduled.