The Island was digging itself out from a snow storm yesterday as plows worked to clear the streets and homeowners shoveled steps and driveways to get out from under around a foot of snow that blanketed the Island.
The storm that spread across half the country hit the Island hard Sunday late afternoon. More than 200 million people were under severe weather warnings as flights were canceled, government offices and schools were closed, and highways were impassable from a once-in-a-generation winter storm that dumped snow from Texas to Maine. Here on Martha’s Vineyard, the snow fall was steady and beautiful but not so devastating in its impact.
It was the most snow the Island’s seen in years. The last time the Vineyard saw at least a foot of snow was in 2022, when a blizzard brought howling winds up to 67 mph, up to 18 inches of snow in West Tisbury, and knocked out power for thousands of Islanders.
Flurries again started to fall on the Island Monday afternoon, which meteorologists from the National Weather Service forecasted could accumulate to around an inch. There are also projections of around one to three more inches of snow tonight amid lows of seven degrees Fahrenheit. Winds could reach 33 miles per hour tonight as well as into tomorrow.
Luckily, the Island didn’t experience any major interruptions to power, and while first responders helped cars stuck in the snow, there also weren’t any significant incidents that occurred because of the storm.
ISO New England, a nonprofit corporation that manages the grid for the six New England states, issued a precautionary alert Sunday that remains in effect as of 11 am Monday due to cold weather in the region. In a news alert, the nonprofit said that the regional power grid remains reliable; consumer demand for electricity peaked Sunday at 2 pm but fell in line with ISO’s prewinter forecast demands.
The grid didn’t meet any emergency conditions, though ISO requested the Department of Energy on Sunday to allow grid operators to direct power plants and other resources to “run in ways that keep the grid reliable, even if that temporarily overrides regulatory or emission requirements.”
Eversource communications manager Olessa Stepanova, said that the overall energy system performed very well and was “a testament to all ongoing reliability work” being done on the Island. The Island’s utility company staged crews and resources prior to the storm, and Stepanova said no additional crews were needed.
She added that there was one brief outage that lasted two hours and affected five customers in Aquinnah before power was fully restored.
Though, this wasn’t a huge surprise because the company didn’t anticipate a lot of problems from the light fluffy snow that was forecasted. It is the heavier snow that sticks to power lines and causes branches to fall. The “slushy” precipitation previously forecasted for the Cape and Islands didn’t seem to come that far north, which helped, she said.
Harbor Homes, the Island’s only winter shelter, also lost power and heat yesterday, but gave a shoutout to Eversource and Nydam Electric Company, which provides electrical services on the Island, on social media for a “quick response and hours of work” to restore both.
Today, Stepanova said they want to continue to advise people to be careful, especially on the road and around utility poles. She added that plows or shovels near gas meters could cause gas to escape and create safety hazards.
“Any time you have a weather event of this significance and nothing happens, that’s a win,” said Chris Dolby, Edgartown Police Chief.
Still, Jenelle Gadowski, West Tisbury emergency director and spokesperson for the Dukes County Emergency Management Association, highlighted that significant amounts of snow blocked driveways, which can be a hindrance to accessing patients. But a system had been implemented so vehicles from contracted plow trucks or vehicles from town fire and public works departments would accompany ambulances to clear the way.
“It just shows why it’s so important we’re as connected as we are,” Gadowski said.
Although the storm hadn’t greatly impacted the Island there was widespread disruption to services and businesses starting on Sunday. Shops closed early Sunday, and some stayed closed on Monday because of the inclement weather; others opened late Monday or not at all due to snow that accumulated at entrances, taking to social media to alert patrons. Municipal offices and schools also closed on Monday.
And while there were some disruptions to travel because of the weather beginning Sunday evening, on Monday the Steamship Authority’s ferries were sailing again, and the Vineyard Transit Authority buses carried passengers, although a couple of routes didn’t run and up-Island routes had a delayed start to the day because of road conditions. The Steamship Authority also warned of cancellations to early trips Tuesday because of high winds.
Gadowski said the “worst of the storm is over,” but emergency officials will continue to keep watch over the weather as the NWS forecasts the possibility of more snow on Monday. She said the focus on Monday was to get roads plowed to improve road conditions and prevent black ice.
Town officials commended the highway departments’ long hours to clear the roads in clearing roadways.
“Like other island towns, we closed our operations in the interest of public safety,” Joseph LaCivita, Tisbury town administrator, said. “A huge shout out to our [Department of Public Works] staff and emergency services, as well all Island towns, for keeping all of us safe and for clearing our roadways. Storms like this take [a] lot of hours away from their families, and I am so appreciative of their efforts.”