Late-Season Storm Dumps Heavy Snow on Northeast

(AP) — A late-season storm dumped six inches or more of heavy, wet snow on parts of Pennsylvania, upstate New York and northern New England on Tuesday, snapping tree limbs and interrupting power to more than 250,000 customers.

In the hard-hit Binghamton, New York area, Broome County Executive Jason Garnar declared a state of emergency and issued a travel ban for nonessential workers. Some higher-elevation areas in that region had 14 inches of snow by daybreak, though accumulations were less for lower-lying areas, according to the National Weather Service in Binghamton.

“It was a very heavy snow. And as a result, the weight … is snapping these limbs, which is sad when you see your beautiful trees harmed like that,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said on Binghamton radio station WNBF. “But it also can be dangerous for people walking on the streets or walking under power lines, or if people are getting into their cars.”

The spring storm also bought strong gusts that lashed the New England coast, topping at 70 mph off Rye, New Hampshire.

Close to 200,000 customers were without electricity in New York by midday, with outages stretching north from the Southern Tier to the Adirondack Mountains. An additional 47,000 customers were without power in northeast Pennsylvania. Most of the 39,000 outages in New England were in Maine and Vermont, where some parts of the state received six inches of snow or more.

The spring snow fell on budding trees and bushes, but began melting by midday in some areas.

Green Mountain Power, Vermont’s largest electric utility, reported late Tuesday morning that crews had restored power to power to 15,000 customers but new outages were expected as the snow continued to fall and gusty winds enter the region.

“We want everyone to be alert to the changing weather conditions and always stay far away from any downed lines or trees as they could still be energized,” the utility’s director of operations, Eric Lemery, said in a statement.