ROCHESTER, N.Y. ? Two weeks into spring, a foot of snow fell Friday on parts of the Northeast while freezing rain knocked out power and transformed trees into glittering, ice-encased sculptures.

The storm closed hundreds of schools and businesses across the region, and about 100,000 customers lost electricity, mainly along Lake Ontario, where an inch of ice accumulated.

To the west, whipping winds and ice buildup in Michigan stole power from another 230,000 homes and businesses, and the slippery roads were blamed for one traffic death.

In the Rochester area, streets and gardens were littered with fallen limbs and snapped wiring.

“It’s very unnerving — you don’t know where the power lines or the trees are going to come down,” said Debbie Reeves, 52, chipping ice off her driveway in the lakeside suburb of Webster.

“We should have our flowers up,” she said. “This is wrong.”

The storm fooled Clarke’s Ace Hardware in New London, N.H. “We changed our snow shovel display to lawn rakes,” owner Read Clarke said.

Conditions worsened through Friday, with freezing rain expected to continue well into today. Parts of northeastern New York could get as much as 16 inches of snow.

The hazardous wintry mix closed roads, prompted warnings against unnecessary travel and was blamed for dozens of traffic accidents.

Power was cut off for about 80,000 in the Rochester area, and “we expect that is going to climb,” said Dick Marion of Rochester Gas & Electric Corp.

It was the area’s most severe ice storm in decades this far into the year, the National Weather Service said.