More than two-thirds of the 50 states have some snow on the ground, but northern New England has the biggest problems.
Hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses were without power Friday morning and in New Hampshire, the state's biggest utility said it would take days to turn the lights back on, reports CBS station WBZ's Chris McKinnon.
The first major snowstorm of the season brought more than a foot of snow to parts of New Hampshire. Amid the power outages and icy road conditions, Thanksgiving didn't turn out to be what many people had expected.
Power crews spent their holiday working overtime to restore electricity to parts of the state Thursday. At the height of the storm, the outages affected more than 200,000 residents. For many, this meant a last minute scramble to change Thanksgiving dinner plans and find somewhere to eat.
With no electricity at home, newlyweds Patti Kenyon and her husband went to Whole Foods for dinner.
'For my husband and I, it's our first Thanksgiving together and I'm sure we won't forget this one because it is an unusual holiday,' Kenyon said.
The storm brought heavy precipitation throughout the region, with some parts receiving up to 18 inches of snow. Tree branches snapped and cars slammed into utility poles, wiping out power right before festivities were set to begin.
'We were holding out hope at the last minute but now we're going across the state to my brother's house,' resident Joe Grady said.
In Maine, where the storm knocked out power to more than 100,000, back-up plans included wood stoves and barbecues.
'We're just heating water and we have a skillet for doing eggs and bacon and things like that,'
For much of New England, the improvised meals were still something to be thankful for.
'It's really the people your celebrating with that makes it the holiday it is, and that's what we're celebrating,' resident Lisa Karkhanis said.
Forecasters say the drive home from Thanksgiving should be much easier, with temperatures hitting the 50 degree mark by Sunday.
Entities 0 Name: New England Count: 2 1 Name: New Hampshire Count: 2 2 Name: Lisa Karkhanis Count: 1 3 Name: Joe Grady Count: 1 4 Name: WBZ Count: 1 5 Name: CBS Count: 1 6 Name: Kenyon Count: 1 7 Name: Chris McKinnon Count: 1 8 Name: Maine Count: 1 9 Name: Patti Kenyon Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1yYvG8Z Title: Snow, rain snarl Thanksgiving eve travelers in East Description: Shannon Rae Green reports on flight cancellations and forecast snow totals across the east coast as snow flakes fall outside of the USA TODAY newsroom. (USA NOW, USA TODAY) A messy storm brought drenching rain and heavy, wet snow to the East on Wednesday, awful timing for one of the busiest travel days of the year.
