Updated at 1:57 p.m.
After a night of slippery roads that saw temperatures plunging into single digits, more than 35,000 customers were still without power Saturday morning in Vermont.
State officials warned extended outages could endanger residents as frigid wind chills hit 20 below zero on Saturday.
With some outages expected to last into Sunday, Vermont Emergency Management released a list of 16 warming shelters Saturday morning, including a shelter that would remain open overnight in Barre. (See list at the bottom of this article.)
Friday’s windstorm, which gusted to 70 miles per hour in Burlington, “produced the most damage of any widespread wind event (in Vermont) since the October 30, 2017, storm and will likely rank as a top-three overall storm in terms of statewide impacts since 2008,” Jay Shafer, the chief science officer at Disaster Tech, said in a Saturday morning statement. The organization provides storm forecasts to all Vermont utilities.
Referencing the prior weekend’s snowstorm, Shafer noted that “there has not been a combination of two severe outage-impacting storms within such a short time period at least going back over four decades.”
Sustained winds of 20 to 30 miles per hour persisted Saturday morning, said Brooke Taber, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Burlington. A hazardous weather outlook blanketed the state, as wind chills measured between five and 20 below zero statewide. Summits across the Green Mountains could experience wind chills of negative 30.
Dangerous road conditions had not fully subsided.
“There’s quite a bit of black ice out there,” Taber said. “It’s covered by snow, which makes it even more dangerous for travel.”
At peak, Friday’s wind caused more than 75,000 outages statewide, according to Erica Bornemann, director of Vermont Emergency Management. Snapped power line poles could cause extended outages, she predicted. She asked Vermonters to stay safe and not to “get creative” in their attempts to stay warm.
Power outages on Saturday remained most severe in the western part of the state and Washington County, with Middlebury and East Montpelier experiencing the most customers out of service.
Green Mountain Power reported having restored electricity to 75,000 customers Saturday morning, but the “very complex multi-day storm” brought new outages overnight. Broken poles and large fallen trees continued to be reported, officials said.
The utility announced Saturday afternoon that it was working with state officials to close Interstate 91 northbound between the Bradford and Wells River exits to make repairs to a damaged power line. The estimated three-hour closure was originally planned for Saturday afternoon, but then rescheduled for Sunday, likely starting at 1 p.m.
In Castleton, a falling tree killed a 51-year-old woman Friday morning, the Rutland Herald first reported. Police did not release her identity.
As rain turned to snow Friday night, officials warned Vermonters to get off the road by 4 p.m. to avoid flash freezing and snow squalls, and police warned about dangerous conditions on Vermont’s main highways.
The forecasted conditions played out across several main thoroughfares, including both Interstates 89 and 91.
A 40-mile stretch of I-89, from Williston to Highgate, saw “white out conditions, high winds, and black ice, making travel extremely hazardous” around 8 p.m. Friday, according to an alert from Shelly Campbell, an emergency communications dispatcher for the Vermont State Police. She instructed travelers to bring warm clothes in case of emergency.
I-91 between Glover and Derby Line was similarly experiencing white-outs and black ice Friday night, state police said. Route 9 between Bennington and Wilmington closed completely for an hour and a half before reopening around 7 p.m.
On Saturday morning, some road closures and disruptions persisted. Route 5 in Newbury was down to one lane due to a tree that fell on power lines, New England 511 reported. Routes 128 in Essex and 113 in Chelsea were both open to single-lane traffic.
A driver attempting to avoid downed power lines in Derby swerved into a tree Friday night, according to Vermont State Police. Neither occupant was wearing a seat belt, and the crash caused the passenger to hit her head against the windshield, resulting in a minor injury.
In Jay, police received at least five 911 calls from stranded motorists Friday night on Route 242, according to a Vermont State Police press release. “A traffic alert was issued and any motorists able were asked to turn around and travel back down the mountain as the roadway was impassable,” police said. No injuries or property damages were reported.
Back-end snowfall blanketed parts of the state in 6 inches of white Friday night, with some of the highest totals measured in Huntington, Jericho and Arlington, the National Weather Service reported.
Wind partially tore the roof off the St. Albans Fire Department building Friday morning, the department wrote on Facebook. Crews were able to weatherproof the building before temperatures dropped, they reported.
Come Christmas, Vermonters could expect marginally better weather. “Tomorrow will slowly climb out of these conditions, with temperatures in the upper teens and mid-twenties,” according to Taber, the National Weather Service meteorologist.
Warming shelters
Shelter information provided by Vermont Emergency Management:
Norwich Public Safety Building — 10 Hazen Street — 8 a.m.-12 a.m.
Richmond Town Offices — 203 Bridge St. — 8 a.m.-6 p.m.
Shelburne Town Center Gym — 5420 Shelburne Road — hours unknown
Bennington Vermont National Guard Warming Shelter — 100 Franklin Ln. — 8 a.m.-6 p.m.
Swanton Vermont National Guard Warming Shelter — 13 Ferris St. — 8 a.m.-6 p.m.
Barre Auditorium — 20 Auditorium Hill — Opens overnight
Williston Vermont National Guard Warming Shelter — 7846 Williston Rd. — 8 a.m.-6 p.m.
Vergennes Vermont National Guard Warming Shelter — 37 Monkton Rd. — 8 a.m.-6 p.m.
Newport Vermont National Guard Warming Shelter — 540 Union St. — 8 a.m.-6 p.m.
Lyndonville National Guard Warming Shelter — 73 Highgate St. — 8 a.m.-6 p.m.
Enosburg Falls Junior/Senior High School — 65 Dickenson Ave. — hours unknown
Calais Elementary Shelter — 321 Lightening Ridge Rd., Plainfield — hours unknown
Cornwall Warming Center — 2629 VT-30 — hours unknown
Orwell Fire Dept. Shelter — 604 Main St. — hours unknown
Alburgh Fire Bingo Hall Shelter — 60 Firehouse Rd. — hours unknown
Burke Town Office Warming Center — 212 School St. — hours unknown
Charlotte Senior Center Warming Center — 212 Ferry Rd. — 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
Ripton Fire Station — 25 Dugway Rd. — 12 p.m.-4 p.m.
