Tuesday, December 23, 2008
A nor’easter on the first day of winter buried parts of northern New England under more than 3 feet of snow and added to the misery for hundreds of New Hampshire residents still in the dark more than a week after a crippling ice storm hit the region.
In Maine, the town of Eustis was walloped by 41.8 inches of snow in less than 24 hours — making it a doozy of a storm even by New England standards. Eustis was in a band of heavy snow across western Maine, which was “the sweet spot of the storm,” according Eric Schwibs from the National Weather Service.
For residents, however, the snowfall wasn’t so sweet. “I had to push my way out the door and it was above my waist in my driveway,” said Mark Humphries, manager of the Northland general store in the village of Stratton, which is part of Eustis. It took him three hours to clear the sidewalk in front of the store,he added.
Linda Shane said her car got stuck as she backed out of her driveway, and she couldn’t open her door to get out because of the snow. She ended up calling for help. “It’s beautiful but it’s a little crazy,” said Shane, who eventually made it to her job as branch manager at Camden National Bank in Stratton. “The snow is right up to the top of the vehicles.” From her bank, Shane said she couldn’t see beyond the parking lot because of snow that was piled up. “You can’t see the gas station across the street,” she said.
The snowfall broke records in Concord, N.H, and Portland, Maine, although neither city came close to topping Eustis’ snow tally. Concord’s 10 inches of snow broke the record for the date that had held since 1914; Portland’s 14.5 inches surpassed the old record for the date of 12.4 inches in 1933, officials said.