Finally enough snow to break out the shovels

(WTNH) - Those living in the Northern part of the state got enough snow to coat the trees, to have to shovel the sidewalk, and even enough to build a snowman.

It looked like a winter wonderland near the Winsted green, but it's also almost spring, which meant Tom Casey was shoveling in shorts.

"This is New England. You've got to expect almost anything," he said. "You know, I've been around this area for most of my life and this is actually a very mild winter compared to what we usually have."

Around Winsted, they had about 3 inches of heavy, wet snow. It was enough to keep the plows rolling all Thursday morning, but it didn't really slow people down.

A few miles south in Torrington, an inch or so didn't slow Henry Dingee down at all. He said the last time he shoveled was, "Probably a month ago."

However, further south in Waterbury, Joel Towle is not happy at all. His business is shoveling snow. On Thursday he scraped half an inch off this sidewalk, and for this winter, he's barely scraping by at all.

"Last year I was making a thousand dollars a day shoveling off roofs, but this year it's been very hard. I haven't made a thousand dollars all year long," he said.

As a sign of how crazy this winter has been, kids in the Winsted section of Winchester say they have only been able to make two snowmen this year, the first was in October and the second in March.