The Valentine’s Day blizzard dropped 14 to 30 inches of snow in the greater Franklin County region, leaving many people digging their way out of their homes.

But it also sparked a boost in the economy for those who depend on snow for their livelihood.

Thirty inches fell from early Wednesday to about midnight in Eustis, said Betty Wing, a National Weather Service observer there.

“We are getting wind now and it’s only about 1 degree out,” Wing said just after 11 a.m. Thursday.

There was nearly 2 inches of moisture in that snow, she said.

She wasn’t happy, she said, when she had to shovel out to get the container that she uses to melt the snow at about 5 a.m.

The storm wasn’t significant compared with those of 40 to 50 years ago when blizzards were bigger, Wing said, but it was still the biggest storm the area has seen in quite a while.

“I used to go to school when it was 30 to 40 degrees below zero and the buses didn’t have heat, but you used to dress for it,” Wing said.

Harold Souther of Livermore Falls, another weather observer, said he measured 14 inches of snow there, and it had 1.26 inches of water in it.

“That’s heavy,” he said.

The snow had started off light but turned heavy Wednesday afternoon as ice pellets blended into the mix, Souther said.

It was difficult to measure the snow because it was windswept. Drifts varied from place to place, he said.

“They had a job keeping our road open,” he said of Souther Road, which is off Route 17. The wind kept blowing snow across it.

Sheila Pike of Farmington, who helps her husband, Dennis Pike, another observer, keep track of the weather, said 23 inches of snow fell in there. The only trouble she reported was that her driveway was full of snow. Her husband, the Franklin County sheriff, had to shovel to get out.

Rangeley received 24 inches at the downtown station, weather observer Frenchie Guevremont said.

“A foot would have been great, 2 feet is just a little bit much,” he said. “We’re never satisfied.”

The sun was shining up there Thursday, he said, and the snow, coming just before winter school vacation week, will make a lot of happy merchants.

“This snow will certainly help,” said Gail Spaulding, office manager for the Rangeley Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce. “We’ll have a good vacation. This is definitely good for business. Things were going well before but this will definitely help a lot.”

Ronnie Jacques, co-owner of The Ski Depot in Jay, agreed.

“It’s going to be a God send,” Jacques said.

People who were sitting on the fence about going skiing will now be out.

Locally, sales had been slower than online sales, which were doing well, he said.

You have your die-hard skiers who come out because they know the mountains make snow, he said.

“This will bring out the recreationalists who wait until they see white in their backyards,” Jacques said.