Snowfall Thumps Lower Cape But No Major Problems Reported

A historic snowstorm that caused more than a million customers to lose power from the Gulf Coast to Maine caused relatively few problems on the Lower Cape, despite leaving more than a foot of snowfall in its wake.

Starting Sunday morning and continuing through late Monday night, the storm, the largest in several years, left light, fluffy snow in most locations, despite a change to sleet near the end. The deepest accumulation reported to the National Weather Service was in Brewster, which tallied 14 inches. There were 13 inches reported in Eastham, 12 in Orleans, and 11 in South Dennis. There were some gusty winds, but the snow remained mostly fluffy.

 “I think that helped us from the standpoint of power outages,” Harwich Police Lieut. Aram Goshgarian said. There were virtually no outages on Cape Cod reported by Eversource during the storm. 

 “It does seem that we dodged a more significant impact,” Orleans Fire Chief Geof Deering said Tuesday. “The most significant power outage in Orleans actually occurred this morning with just over 900 people being out,” mostly in East Orleans. The cause of that outage was not immediately clear. “We are watching that closely with the cold temperatures,” Deering said.

In anticipation of possible outages, Chatham opted to open a personal care site at the community center Monday, but no citizens came to warm up or charge their phones. The center was staffed by volunteers from the regional Community Emergency Response Team.

 “It worked out well,” Chatham Fire Chief Justin Tavano said. “We try to plan for the worst and hope for the best.” 

Town public works departments received high praise in all four Lower Cape towns for keeping roadways clear during the storm. By Monday morning, main streets were plowed down to wet pavement.

Brewster Police Chief Heath Eldredge said it was clear that most people heeded warnings to stay off the roads during the snowfall.

 “That provided for minimal requests for service to the police department and allowed DPW crews to do their job efficiently,” he said.

Additional snow fell Monday night, leaving roads slick as people went back to work and school Tuesday morning.

 “As we move through this week and have anticipated low temps, we won’t see much melting, and whatever melting we do experience will re-freeze overnight,” Eldredge said. “If people are out driving, they should continue to give themselves extra time and take it slow, using particular care at intersections, especially with high snow banks causing line-of-sight issues.” 

There were no serious accidents or incidents reported during the snowstorm. In Chatham, a snowplow experienced a small leak of hydraulic fluid or diesel fuel near the intersection of Fox Hill Road and Strong Island Road, and the town’s natural resources department was alerted to the possibility that some of the fluid may have reached Crows Pond. Tavano said the leak was small enough to be under the limits that require reporting to the state.

Drifting snow caused reduced visibility during the storm, but posed a more insidious threat, Tavano said.

 “We did have a couple instances of people’s [heating] exhaust vents being blocked up from drifts,” he said. Snow drifts that block vents can cause invisible, odorless carbon monoxide to accumulate in the building, and in the Chatham calls, residents were alerted to the presence of the deadly gas by carbon monoxide alarms.

 “With the potential for more snow this coming weekend, residents should ensure there is plenty of space around their heating vents to accommodate any additional snow,” Eldredge said.

As of press time Tuesday, weather forecasters said it was too early to offer predictions about this weekend’s potential storm. One scenario would cause a very powerful “bomb cyclone” to form offshore, potentially bringing more heavy snow, winds and coastal flooding to the region.

 “People should continue to be prepared and always keep an emergency kit ready to go, and make sure they have things stocked up,” Tavano said. “But don’t panic a week in advance on what the forecast is.”

Given the potential for more snow, Goshgarian said it is important for people to continue clearing snowfall from the last storm. “Where is this going to go if we get another foot of snow?” he asked. “Who knows what’s looming.”