Snow continues to cover parts of Vermont as Sunday’s storm stretches into Monday evening. According to the National Weather Service, a winter storm warning remains in effect until around 8 p.m. on Monday.
The storms followed a period of warmer weather throughout the state that led to an early mud season. The mud followed by the snow has left behind snow-covered ruts, creating a challenge for town road crews tasked with plowing the state’s many dirt roads.
When reached at around 11:30 a.m. Charles Pelchar, a road crew member of the Middlesex Highway Department told VTDigger, “I honestly don’t have the time right now. We’re trying to get these roads opened up, and it’s really hard.”
He added that his staff cannot use their normal equipment and have to use graders instead of regular snow plows. “We’re kind of behind everything now,” Pelchar said.
Other town crews agreed that mud has complicated normal plowing, though some have found solutions.
“The dirt is so soft,” explained Mark French, road foreman of the Highway Department of Hyde Park, that a normal plow would “stick into the mud.”
According to French, his crew built a new plow with a different cutting edge so it floats over the soft ground, which is why the roads around Hyde Park have been driveable.
Moreover, he added that in Hyde Park “we don’t have many ruts. A lot of soft dirt, but no ruts.”
In its morning road conditions report, the Vermont Department of Transportation told drivers statewide to “anticipate a mix of road conditions.” As of Monday at noon, the department, which maintains paved state roads, is mainly reporting wet roads.
Overall, drivers should proceed with caution. A road crew worker at Stowe warned that the soft roads will be wet and slippery once the snow starts melting.
The storm will be winding down across Vermont over the course of Monday, according to Conor Lahiff, a meteorologist at the Burlington office of the National Weather Service. He still expects gusts of wind up to 50 mph in more mountainous areas, which is forecasted to continue until around midnight. By tomorrow, high temperatures are expected to return to the low to mid-40 degrees statewide.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the staff member from the Middlesex Highway Department.
