As of 6:00 a.m. Tuesday, more than 6,000 customers were still without power in Vermont, after heavy, wet snow fell over much of the state Sunday night.
Before 6 a.m. Monday, I-89 southbound between Montpelier and Berlin was closed for about two hours, due to slick roads.
TRAFFIC ALERT: Interstate 89 Southbound between Exit 8 Montpelier and Exit 7 Berlin is CLOSED due to multiple stuck vehicles and winter conditions. Updates will follow when available.
— 511VT (@511VT) November 27, 2023
It was the first storm of the season to cause significant outages, because of particularly heavy snow that reached over 8 inches in several towns, according to the National Weather Service.
“I think it surprised everyone in the utility space a little bit,” said Louis Porter, general manager at Washington Electric Cooperative, where over 4,000 customers were without power Monday evening.
Porter said wet snow events like this have been increasingly common as Vermont winters warm and have caused significant problems for utilities.
He expects the majority of WEC customers to be back online by Tuesday.
