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Nor'easter Buries Northern New England, Breaks Snowfall Records

December 24, 2008 - A nor'easter on the first day of winter buried parts of northern New England under more than 3 feet of snow and added to the misery for thousands of New Hampshire residents still in the dark more than a week after a crippling ice storm hit the region.

The snowfall broke records in Concord, N.H., and Portland, Maine. Concord's 10 inches of snow broke the record for the date that had held since 1914; Portland's 14.5 inches surpassed the old record for the date of 12.4 inches in 1933, officials said.

In New Hampshire, Lost River and Hampton had 21 inches of snow, North Conway had 15.5 inches and Laconia had 14 inches. Vermont also saw heavy snow with reports of 17.5 inches in St. Johnsbury, Rochester and Randolph Center, 14 inches in Montpelier, and 7.2 inches in St. Albans.

"It's nothing new," said Col. Dave Gill, a U.S. Army recruiter, in Portsmouth, N.H., shrugging off the recent string of bad weather. "People up here are tough."

Sunday's storm sent cars and trucks sliding but there were no reports of storm-related deaths. By Monday, a massive cleanup was under way across the region.

In New Hampshire, the snow didn't help crews working to restore electricity for fewer than 10,000 customers who have been in the dark since an ice storm on Dec. 11-12.

At the peak, there were nearly 450,000 homes and businesses without electricity in New Hampshire in the worst ice storm in the state's history. By Monday, 1,200 line crews and tree-cutting crews were picking away at remaining power outages.

The Associated Press December 23, 2008


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