Heavy, wet snow shows another side of spring in New England

BOSTON — New Englanders who had enjoyed an early spring were brought back to a cold, blustery reality Friday with a storm packing powerful wind gusts, lashing rain and heavy, wet snow.

A foot of snow had fallen in Spofford in western New Hampshire by midday, and the wind gusted to 40 mph on the coast, said National Weather Service meteorologist Andy Pohl.

Snow fell from New York’s Hudson Valley to northern New York and eastward through New England.

The wind and heavy snow caused sporadic power outages and created slippery conditions. In Maine, three vehicles hydroplaned and crashed in a period of an hour on the Maine Turnpike before the rain turned to snow. One of them burst into flames; the driver escaped without injury.

Elsewhere, the town of Hawley, Massachusetts, recorded 7 inches (18 centimeters) of snow, and Plainfield and Rowe each got about 6 inches (15 centimeters). Stafford, Connecticut, got a little over 3 inches (8 centimeters).

Winter weather warnings or advisories were posted for large swaths of Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts. The storm could linger in some areas into Saturday.

Blooming flowers that quickly became covered in snow demonstrated how quickly the weather can change in New England.

But late-season snowfall isn’t unusual. The region sometimes sees snowfall in May.