SHELBURNE, Vt. (WCAX) – Vermonters marveled at Saturday’s late March snowstorm capping off the winter that wasn’t. On a hill in Shelburne, the unexpected flakes were a recipe for fun.
“It snowed a lot last night so my family decided to go sledding with some friends,” Leah Hoenigsberg said, sled in hand. And sled she did, racing down the hill behind Shelburne Post Office. Hoenigsberg said she likes the descent a little more than the daunting return to the top. “Going down, definitely going down,” Hoenigsberg laughed. “I don’t like going back up.”
Other sledders tipped over in the fluffy snow but lived to tell the tale. “It felt like falling down a really steep hill that was filled with spikes,” Finn White of Shelburne said.
Saturday morning’s snowstorm blanketed Chittenden County with around 3 to 5 inches of snow as of Saturday afternoon. It’s a rare and chilly snow day for a winter that averaged over 30 degrees in Burlington, the city’s warmest winter since National Weather Service records dating back over a century ago.
Many were startled by the sudden storm. “Shoveling the driveway, one of the first times this year,” Paul Dawson of Burlington said. In true Vermont fashion, he was wearing shorts. “You know, I figured better do one now even though it’s still snowing because it gets harder the higher it gets. So, I’ll come back later.”
Travel was slow-going on the slick roads, with traffic moving around 40 mph on I-89. Some ditched their cars, boarding a train or even gearing up their bikes. “I said well, if they’re going to plow the sidewalks for me, I might as well go for it,” Matthew Hogg said, who biked to Church Street from his home in Burlington’s New North End. “I got on the bike path and it was doable. It was the best commute of the year so far. It was fantastic.”
VTrans says their plows will stick around to clean up the flakes – some 4 to 8 total inches expected in the Champlain Valley through Saturday night. Those in central and southern Vermont may see more and should be especially wary of road conditions and power outages.