Vermont

Thanksgiving storm arrived as predicted, leaving thousands without power in its wake – VTDigger

Published

1 year ago

November 29, 2024

Thanksgiving storm arrived as predicted, leaving thousands without power in its wake – VTDigger

The expected snowfall totals in Vermont over Thanksgiving. Image via The National Weather Service’s Burlington Office

Vermont utility companies have been hard at work restoring power to thousands of customers after a holiday snow storm brought heavy, wet snow that knocked out power lines Thursday.

The Thanksgiving storm effects were “fairly on track” with predictions as the Champlain Valley experienced mostly rain while southern and central Vermont and higher elevations reported more snowfall, said Jessica Storm, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Burlington office.

The holiday storm gifted Killington Mountain skiers 21 inches of fresh snow in time for this weekend’s World Cup, according to the Killington Mountain Resort’s latest conditions report.

As of 2:00 p.m. Friday, there were still 1,266 customers without power around the state, including over 800 Green Mountain Power customers and more than 400 Washington Electric Cooperative customers. Central Vermont reported the most remaining outages, with over 400 customers in Orange County, over 300 customers in Rutland County, and over 200 customers in Windsor County without power as of Friday afternoon.

Kristin Kelly, director of communications for Green Mountain Power, said over 16,000 customers lost power because of the storm, but line workers had restored power to about 15,000 customers and expected to fix power outages for the rest of their affected customers by the end of Friday.

“Our field operations team tracks multiple forecasts for days in advance of something like this, so that we can be prepared to respond as quickly and as safely as possible for customers,” said Kelly.

The number of affected Washington Electric Cooperative (WEC) customers peaked at nearly 2,000 who experienced power outages due to the snow storm and additional outage reports are expected, said Louis Porter, general manager of WEC.

“What happens in a storm like this with wet snow is frequently the tree branches spring back as the snow falls off them, and they slap into the lines if they’re leaning over enough, and that can cause a secondary outage,” said Porter.

All of the WEC crews along with two crews from Vermont Electric Cooperative and one contract crew were deployed Friday to help restore power to customers in Orange, Washington and Caledonia counties. Porter said he hoped most power outages would be fixed by the end of Friday, but there could be a few power outage incidents that take longer to remedy.

“It can be hard to predict, particularly as you get down into the last few,” said Porter. “There’ll probably be a handful of outage events or breaks in the line that go into the night or even into tomorrow morning, ones that are particularly isolated and difficult to reach, or where there’s particular damage.”

Porter said the mutual aid agreement between WEC and other New England utility companies to share labor during destructive weather events is “essential” for rural public utilities. He commended the work of the crews helping to restore power to the state.

“These folks that do this work are absolutely incredible people,” said Porter. “They push themselves as hard as they can while remaining safe to restore power to their neighbors and the people that they serve.”

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Vermont

Wrong-way driver stopped on I-89, charged with DUI

Published

4 hours ago

April 19, 2026

Press Room

Wrong-way driver stopped on I-89, charged with DUI

BOLTON, Vt. (WCAX) – A wrong-way driver was safely stopped on Interstate 89 overnight Sunday.

Vermont State Police say just before 12:30 a.m., they stopped the car near marker 77, near Bolton.

The driver, Denise Lear, 60, of Revere, was charged with driving under the influence and gross negligent operation.

Lear is expected in court Monday.

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Vermont

Women’s Lacrosse Bested in Burlington by Vermont – University at Albany Great Danes

Published

16 hours ago

April 18, 2026

Press Room

Women’s Lacrosse Bested in Burlington by Vermont – University at Albany Great Danes

Score: UAlbany 4, Vermont 14

Location: Virtue Field | Burlington, Vt.

Records: UAlbany (10-5, 5-1 America East) | Vermont (8-6, 4-1 America East)

Short Story: UAlbany women’s lacrosse fell to the Vermont Catamounts on Saturday afternoon.

Key Stats

Grace Cincebox recorded a total of 14 saves with 13 goals allowed for a .565 save percentage.

Ravan Marsell led the Great Danes with two points on one goal and one assist.

Four different UAlbany players scored in the contest.

Reggie Williams was the team’s leader with three ground balls.

Delilah Mile caused a team high three turnovers.

How It Happened

The Catamounts came out of the gates hard and heavy, scoring all three goals between both sides in the first quarter.

Vermont would take an 8-0 lead in the second quarter before Amanda Williamson found the back of the net on a women-down goal to put the Great Danes on the board and make it 8-1.

The Great Danes would allow one more goal in the first half to trail 9-1 after 30-minutes of play.

Grace Cincebox would enter the half with 10 saves.

Riley Forthofer started the Great Danes off in the second half to make it a 9-2 game, before Vermont put up three more goals to take a 12-2 lead entering the final quarter of play.

Mya Carroll and Ravan Marsell both scored on back-to-back free-position goals to make it a 12-4 game.

The Catamounts finished the game with two more goals to take the win 14-4.

Up Next
The Great Danes will next have a bye week and wait to see the outcome of next week’s Vermont vs UMass Lowell game to see who will host the America East Tournament.

Social Central: Stay up to date with UAlbany women’s lacrosse by following the team on Instagram (@UAlbanyWLax), Facebook (UAlbany Women’s Lacrosse), and X (@UAlbanyWLax) for all of the latest news and highlights throughout the year.

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Vermont

Vermont lands two cities in America’s top 15 happiest list

Published

1 day ago

April 18, 2026

Press Room

Vermont lands two cities in America’s top 15 happiest list

Is creativity the missing key to better health?

Research suggests creative activities like art, music and crafts may benefit mental health as much as other key health habits.

Here’s another reason Vermont is the best New England state: It’s home to one of the top 5 happiest cities in the United States.

Plus, it has another within the top 15.

Massachusetts, on the other hand, doesn’t even break the top 50. Nor, does Connecticut or Rhode Island.

The personal finance website analyzed 182 of the largest cities in the country, and ranked Boston 63rd overall. Although the city is home to some of the nation’s top universities, high-ranking hospitals, and well-regarded companies, it didn’t break the top 50.

To get the rankings, WalletHub compared the cities using 29 metrics, including life-satisfaction index, depression rate, poverty rate, job security, and acres of parkland per 1,000 residents. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, and cities were assigned an overall happiness score.

Here’s a look at how the cities ranked.

South Burlington is No. 4 happiest city, Burlington is No. 11

South Burlington came on top for Vermont in WalletHub’s list of the happiest cities in the United States, ranking at No. 4. In scored very high for emotional and physical well-being coming in at the No. 4 spot, which made up for coming in No. 48 for community and environment. It was No. 9 for income and employment ranking. That gave it a total happiness of score of 70.15

Burlington wasn’t far behind at all, taking the No. 11 spot on the list and a happiness score of 67.54. It’s highest score was for income and employment ranking where it came second. It ranked No. 13 for community and environment and No. 21 for emotional and physical well-being.