How to prepare for snowstorm's power outages

About 650,000 customers lost power during the height of the snowstorm, most of them in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in Plymouth, Mass., lost electricity and shut down Friday night during the storm, though authorities say there's no threat to public safety.

Some parts of New England had more than 2 feet of snow. The storm brought high winds and left many roads impassable, hampering utilities' efforts to restore power.

There was some consolation, though: The outages weren't as widespread as they were in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. And restoring power will likely be a much quicker job — taking days, not weeks, as was the case with Sandy.

Sandy brought winds of 90 miles per hour whipping through trees that were still draped with leaves. During this storm, a gust of 82 miles per hour was recorded in Westport, Conn. That's still dangerous, but the leaves are long gone so trees and branches weren't stressed as much.

Here are some questions and answers about what utilities expect, along with some important things to remember if your power goes out.

Q: How do utilities prepare for a storm like this one?

A: They start meeting in the days before a storm to make sure they have crews and equipment ready to go and to plan staffing for their command centers. They ask unaffected utilities for extra line crews to help restore power. They coordinate with state and county officials and plan public notifications. All year round, of course, utilities conduct tree-trimming programs and other maintenance activities designed to minimize damage to wires and other equipment. Now they hope it helps.

Q: Are winter storms more or less destructive than summer storms?

A: It depends. A winter storm that comes early, when leaves are still on trees, can be as destructive as a hurricane. A storm that coats trees and wires with ice can also be dangerous. That's because the weight of the snow and ice drag down wires, branches or whole trees, explains Seth Hulkower, an electric power distribution expert at the consulting firm ICF International.

"Snowfall by itself is not problematic," Hulkower says. "The biggest concern is whether there is going to be ice and how high the winds are going to be."