High winds, power outages: Which parts of Chittenden County had the worst storm damage

April Barton, Burlington Free Press
·2 min read
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A January winter storm brought with it heavy, wet snow; freezing rain and damaging winds to Vermont.

Much of the weather strengthened during the evening commute Tuesday night and overnight winds produced an abundance of power outages, particularly across the Champlain Valley. By Wednesday morning, many households and businesses were without power. Crews from Green Mountain Power were out en force addressing outages and VTRANS trucks were clearing roadways that had been closed due to fallen debris. Homeowners were also out assessing damage and clearing neighborhood roads.

Which areas sustained some of the greatest impacts from the overnight winter storm?

Debris litters the side of a neighborhood road in Williston on Jan. 10, 2023. The pieces are remnants of a downed tree from heavy winds that blew through during an evening and overnight winter storm.
Debris litters the side of a neighborhood road in Williston on Jan. 10, 2023. The pieces are remnants of a downed tree from heavy winds that blew through during an evening and overnight winter storm.

Wind gusts

High winds and gusts downed trees, utility poles and sent yard decorations and outdoor recreation equipment into neighboring properties.

The National Weather Service Burlington office prepared a list of high wind reports.

Chittenden County clocked the five highest recorded wind gusts across the state. The Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport had the strongest recording at 69 miles per hour. Here are the highest amounts recorded in towns in Chittenden County.

  • South Burlington (airport) - 69 mph

  • Jericho - 62 mph

  • Huntington - 56 mph

  • Richmond - 56 mph

  • Milton - 55 mph

  • Colchester - 53 mph

  • Westford - 35 mph

Around the rest of the state, there were at least six other towns with gusts reaching at least 50 mph. Addison tied for the fifth highest recorded gust at 55 mph. Middlebury, Highgate and Rutland had 51 mph winds, while winds in Panton and Killington reached 50 mph.

Power outages

Shortly after 9 a.m. Wednesday, Green Mountain Power showed on its website that 16,152 customers were without power. At that time there were 350 active incidents across Vermont, affecting 80 towns.

Jericho had reached the second highest amount of outages in the state at 1,606 customers. That number represents individual households and businesses, so with a population of about 5,100, that means power outages affected much of the town.

At the time, Chittenden County had 3,431 GMP customers and businesses without power. Here are how the numbers break down in each town.

  • Jericho - 1,606

  • Essex - 497

  • Huntington - 324

  • Underhill - 267

  • South Burlington - 252

  • Milton - 141

  • Westford - 108

  • Colchester - 87

  • Richmond - 65

  • Williston - 49

  • Hinesburg - 28

  • Charlotte - 6

  • Shelburne - 1

Winooski and Bolton had no power outages reported by Green Mountain Power and St. George was not listed. Burlington is served by the municipal Burlington Electric Department.

The highest number of Green Mountain Power outages around 9 a.m. belonged to Bristol at 2,046 customers.

Contact reporter April Barton at abarton@freepressmedia.com or 802-660-1854. Follow her on Twitter @aprildbarton.

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Overnight winter storm effects on Chittenden County and Vermont