Sandy's Snowy Side Turns Deadly

As much as 2-3 feet of snow fell in the mountains of Maryland and West Virginia, with lighter snows in Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Ohio. 

An astonishing 57 locations from Pennsylvania to Tennessee picked up at least one foot of snow from Superstorm Sandy.

At least 36 roads in West Virginia were closed by high water, downed trees, and snow. West Virginia media reported the roofs of some businesses in Craigsville have collapsed under the weight of the snow. Students in at least 19 West Virginia counties got another day off from school Wednesday.  Fourteen more counties are delaying the start of school.

"Essentially, you took a hurricane's moisture, wrapped it into the Appalachians where the air mass was cold enough for snow," says weather.com meteorologist Jon Erdman.

In the mountainous western edges of Maryland, two feet of snow snapped power lines, downed trees, and left tractor-trailers jackknifed along an interstate. In West Virginia, 2-3 feet of snow created blizzard conditions, shutting down one interstate and knocking out power to thousands.

"For some Appalachian locations, this storm was their version of October 2011's 'Snowtober' storm that hammered the Northeast with power outages and downed trees due to the weight of that heavy snow," reports Erdman.

Some Top Sandy Snow Totals

- Richwood, W.V.: 36 inches

- Mount Leconte, Tenn.:  34 inches

- Near Norton, Va.:  24 inches

- Near Cove Creek, N.C.:  24 inches

- Near Whitesburg, Ky.: 18 inches

- Near Champion, Pa.:  13 inches

Maryland State Highway Administration spokeswoman Kelly Boulware says they had to remove several tractor-trailers that were stuck on I-70 westbound as well as four to five cars that were abandoned in the median.

"Even lower elevations of Ohio were seeing their first snow of the season," says Erdman.

In North Carolina, Sugar Mountain Ski Resort is opening on Halloween Day. It's the earliest opening in its 43 year history. The resort reports they had 7" of snow on Monday with a possible 10-16" expected from Sandy by the end of Tuesday.

Sandy's wintry side even dipped as far down as Tennessee. Newfound Gap received 22" of snow from Sandy. Hikers and campers in the Smokies were a little startled by the appearance of snow. Officials report about 50 backpackers took shelter in the park during Sunday night's snowfall.

MORE ON WEATHER.COM:  Sandy's Devastation