March snow lands with a thud

The March storm that dumped about six inches of heavy snow on Concord and across northern New England yesterday, sent vehicles sliding, gave many a three-day weekend and capped everything off with a glaze of rain.

No serious injuries were reported, though the state police were called out for several cars sliding off the Interstate 89. In Concord, the police reported weather-related accidents on Loudon, Manchester and Mountain roads as of early yesterday afternoon. No injuries were reported, said Concord Police Lt. Jay Brown. There wasn't much traffic on the road yesterday afternoon, so some people might have stayed home to start a long weekend, Brown said.

But Concord schoolchildren on winter break were cheated out of a snow day by the timing of the storm.

As the weather turned cold last night, the wet roads turned treacherous again, bringing a new rush of accident calls.

Concord got the snow plows out early and often, beginning after midnight yesterday morning and continuing work through 3 yesterday afternoon. The city kept the sidewalks open downtown with two specialty plows throughout the day, said Chip Chesley, director of Concord's general services department.

There were a few flight delays and cancellations at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, but air traffic was reportedly smooth through the day.

Hundreds of businesses were closed across the state as well as in Maine and Vermont. New Hampshire and Vermont state governments remained open, but in Maine, Gov. John Baldacci took the unusual step of shutting down for the day.

About 2,700 New Hampshire customers were reported without electricity, most in the North Country where more than a foot of snow piled up. Most locations had service by 3 p.m. About 60 customers in Epsom lost power after a tree limb took out a power line. But the changeover to rain and warming yesterday afternoon kept problems to a minimum, said Unitil spokesman Leigh Willett, who said it appears the worst is over.

"I'm really kind of optimistic. I don't think it's going to be that bad," Willett said.

Further north, the Franconia Notch parkway was closed yesterday afternoon after a tractor trailer tiped on its side during heavy winds. There was no word on whether the driver was injured.

The storm was good news for skiers and snowmobilers looking to lengthen the season that got off to a late start because of a paucity of snow in December and January.