By dawn Saturday, the Gate City looked more like a scene from an apocalyptic movie than a city of nearly 90,000 people. City plows trawled through the streets, drivers on snowmobiles darted in and out among the slow-moving plows and the sidewalks were still covered with 2 feet of snow.

The storm, dubbed Nemo, was wrapping up, and it had hit Nashua hard, dumping 22 inches of snow on the city in the course of 29 hours and causing schools to be shut down in anticipation of what was deemed a storm of “historic proportions.”

Despite the snowfall totals, power outages were minimal and only one major motor vehicle accident was reported after a man lost control of his vehicle on Route 28 in Auburn and was killed when the vehicle struck a tree just after noon Friday, according to Auburn police. The cause of the crash is still under investigation.

PSNH reported that in preparation for Nemo, it would have 1,100 employees, contractors and support staff to handle outages in the Granite State, but the lights stayed on. At the peak, 460 homes in New Hampshire were without power. By Sunday morning, only 30 customers, less than 1 percent, were without power.

In the grand scheme, Nashua and the rest of New Hampshire were spared the brunt of the storm. Outside the Granite State, other states weren’t as lucky. More than 650,000 people were without power and peak snow totals reached possible record levels in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maine. Hamden, Conn., topped all snowfall in the Northeast, receiving 40 inches.

Meteorologist Al Kaprielian attributed New Hampshire’s lack of damage and outages to the light, fluffy snow that fell in and compared it to the heavy snow falling in Plymouth, Mass., and on Cape Cod, where winds of up to 77 mph and wet, heavy snow rolled through. As of Sunday, reports by news outlets stated that more than 40 percent of the residents were still without power on Cape Cod.

During preparations for winter storm Nemo, many thought back 35 years to the Blizzard of ’78, when the Northeast was struck by record snowfall and hurricane force winds, killing power to thousands and forcing many into shelters.

In terms of snowfall, Nemo didn’t disappoint. Concord received 24 inches, its second highest snowfall ever. Portland, Maine, got hammered with 31.9 inches, shattering a record set in 1979.

In comparison to the Blizzard of ’78, Kaprielian said the amount of snow that New Hampshire received was comparable, but that Nemo came and went in a shorter span of time. The Blizzard of ’78 stayed for nearly two days before moving on, Nemo was gone in just over a day.

“In terms of duration, it didn’t last as long as ’78. This storm was a little more progressive,” said Kaprielian.

The response to the storm in Hudson may have been typical in Greater Nashua.

Hudson road agent Kevin Burns said there was no way for his crew to keep up. Burns said he received a few calls during the storm from Hudson residents inquiring about why their streets had not been plowed.

“But we may have had already done them a few times,” said Burns.

After 46 hours of clearing Hudson roadways, the 15 trucks parked at the DPW for the last time.

They had begun plowing the streets at 3:15 p.m. Friday and by 4:30 p.m. Saturday, they could finally call it quits.

Burns was pleased to report that one reason snow removal went smoothly was the lack of cars on the road during the storm, allowing plow operators to clear the streets with relative ease.

“Because the storm was so hyped up, there was no traffic. In 30 years, I’ve never seen the roads so empty,” said Burns.

William Wrobel can be reached at 594-6426 or wwrobel@nashua telegraph.com. Also, follow Wrobel on Twitter (@Telegraph_WillW).