Season's first snowfall 'bearly' felt by Northern Seacoast

A monkey bear in West Lebanon barely got his tootsies wet. (Rochester Voice photo)

The Northern Seacoast took it in stride Saturday as the region's first significant snow of the season came and went.

"I won't be plowing and I won't be shoveling," declared one Lebanon, Maine, man midway through the afternoon, adding it's all going to melt anyway.

Local highway crews saw it differently, getting out in their plows by evening time to clear and sand and salt town roadways.

Locally it seems to have worked.

While Central New Hampshire and the Manchester area saw a spate of motor vehicle accidents at the height of the snowstorm, the Rochester area for the most part was spared, according to reports from area police departments.

In Rochester there may have been a couple minor incidents, but none that were serious enough to be brought up during morning briefings, Rochester Police Lt. Anthony Bossi said today.

In Milton, Sgt. Thomas Hebert of Milton Police said the roads were in fantastic shape thanks to Public Works and that no accidents had been reported due to the snowstorm.

Meanwhile, Northeast Fire Alerts noted no serious accidents in York County.

In Epping, however, around 1:30 p.m. just as the snow began falling in earnest, a car headed east on Route 101 drove into an overpass, killing the driver, Peter Johnson, 50.

Police say speed and alcohol appear to be contributing factors in the crash.

Other crashes were recorded during the storm in Manchester, Concord, Canterbury, Boscawen, Henniker and Warren.

Less than six inches fell on much of the Northern Seacoast, but road crews in Lebanon, Maine, were out around 8 p.m. plowing and laying down sand on hills and troublesome corners.