Snow falls in some neighborhoods in NY and NJ, north and west of New York City
NEW YORK (WABC) -- Some neighborhoods north and west of New York City had to dig out from more than a foot of snow on Friday morning -- and it's not over yet.
It marked the first major snowfall of the year and, love it or hate it, it was needed to help deal with the ongoing drought conditions across the Tri-State.
One of the hardest-hit areas was Orange County. Parts of Warwick got hit with more than seven inches.
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The heavy, wet snow looked pretty - but caused plenty of power problems.
Crews from Orange and Rockland worked through the day restoring service to residents.
In Greenwood Lake, they were dealing with smoke of a different sort: a fallen tree sitting on a live power line. But that's a far cry from the smoke and flames from the Jennings Creek Wildfire that threatened homes for nearly two weeks.
After smelling smoke from the brushfires just days ago, residents in Vernon Township, New Jersey, were also happy to dust off their shovels after getting much more snow than they anticipated.
Mother Nature didn't hold back for the first snowfall of the season and brought about a foot of snow to the Highland Lakes community.
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Vernon Department of Public Works crews started Thursday night and worked through Friday to keep the roads safe for drivers.
One of the biggest concerns was the many fallen trees and branches.
"It's been it's been dry for how many weeks, and then all of a sudden you get this cold, wet, heavy snow on top of them, it just snaps the branches," said Ed Babcock with the Vernon Township Department of Public Works. "You know, there's no moisture in the branches to help, so, unfortunately, this is what we got."
The downed trees took out power lines, causing over 1,000 people to wake up without power.
But that did little to dampen the spirts of some people in town. With school canceled for the day, kids took to the freshly fallen show to have a snowy day of fun.
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