‘Some Snow Would be Nice': Vermont Prepares for Up to a Foot of Snowfall

Road crews were urging people in Vermont to stay off the roads Thursday night if they could — to allow more room for plows to work overnight.

Snow was rolling in, and it was expected to be heavy at times. Forecasters said many Vermont communities could expect six inches to close to a foot of snow, with even more powder for the mountains.

"The timing of the storm is going to be helpful for us," acknowledged Dan Shepard of the Vermont Agency of Transportation, referring to the fact snow in his district near Burlington was forecasted to be heaviest late Thursday night and into Friday morning.

During those overnight hours, there shouldn’t be much traffic on the roads while plows try to keep up with what’s falling, Shepard noted.

"An inch and a half to two inches an hour, which is a lot of snow," Shepard said of the rate of snowfall he was expecting during parts of the overnight storm. "But it’s going to be cold and the snow’s going to be fluffier…and easier to move."

In contrast, Shepard noted conditions earlier Thursday saw wetter snow and concerns over icing as temperatures fell. That had road crews out salting the interstate in the Burlington area during the afternoon.

Shepard also urged commuters to leave additional time to get to work Friday if they had to drive, because road conditions were expected to still be quite sloppy in the morning.

FIRST ALERT: Freezing Rain, Snow and Icy Roads Friday

Amtrak halted most service in Vermont because of the storm, the Vermont Agency of Transportation announced. Parking bans are in place, including in Burlington and Winooski.

At Mad River Glen, home of the famous Single Chair ski lift, a sign out front read, "Some snow would be nice."

The destination relies much more on natural snowfall than many others in Vermont do, but it totally missed out on getting any snow from last weekend’s nor’easter which hit the rest of New England.

"We’re a little starved for snow, and this new storm coming in is definitely a welcome sight," said Ry Young of Mad River Glen.

Teenager Curt Brichkowski of Connecticut was dressed as a tiger to ski at Mad River Glen Thursday. He told NECN & NBC10 Boston his family wanted to make it to Vermont ahead of the most intense snowfall, to enjoy the fresh conditions skiing.

"My mom was questioning my decisions when I told her I was wearing this," Brichkowski said of his tiger getup during Thursday’s snowfall. "But I’m out here and it’s fun. The conditions are great."

The utility Green Mountain Power is warning its customers that scattered outages are possible from this system due to ice and snow loading on trees, especially in southern Vermont. So it’s urging people to prepare, including by checking out GMP’s storm preparation tips.