Even as Mainers began to clear their driveways and walks after Saturday’s snowfall, a potentially more powerful snowstorm was on the horizon.

Saturday’s storm underwhelmed a bit after forecasters had predicted up to 8 inches of snow would fall in most places along the coast. With the snow moving out of southern Maine by 8 p.m. Saturday, meteorologists at the National Weather Service said they hadn’t calculated totals, but it looked like less than 6 inches of snow had fallen in most towns and cities, with the exception of the midcoast, where 1 or 2 more inches were expected.

Now forecasters are eyeing another storm that’s expected to hit Monday night and stick around until Wednesday. Winter storm watches have been issued for York, Cumberland, Sagadahoc, Lincoln, Knox and Waldo counties until 4 a.m. Wednesday. The storm could bring storm winds and at least a foot of snow.

Meteorologist Eric Sinsabaugh said he hesitates to use the word “blizzard” because many storms in Maine fail to meet the strict criteria of that type of storm.

“But we have the potential of a fairly good nor’easter,” with more than 6 inches of snow, he said, particularly because the storm is expected to slow down as it moves into the Gulf of Maine.

After a relatively dry spate, Maine appears to be returning to a more normal pattern of fairly regular snowfalls, said National Weather Service meteorologist Nikki Becker. She said the long-range forecast calls for another chance of snow on Friday.

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Speed limits were dropped to 45 mph for the length of the Maine Turnpike and on Interstate 295 from Portland to Gardiner on Saturday and the normal speed limits weren’t expected to resume until late Saturday or early Sunday.

Area police departments reported a few minor accidents Saturday morning, including two in Kittery and one in Kennebunkport.

A section of Broadway near Cash Corner in South Portland was shut down for an hour Saturday by a three-vehicle accident at about 9 a.m.

South Portland police said the crash was weather-related. Four people from one of the vehicles were taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland with injuries, none of them serious, police said. The accident was cleared around 10:15 a.m.

Route 1 in Brunswick was the scene of multiple crashes Saturday morning just south of Cook’s Corner. The road was shut down for about an hour between 10:30 and 11:30 a.m.

Driver Pamela Morency of Brunswick was taken to Maine Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries after her 2006 Ford Escape rolled over in one of the crashes.

Several communities instituted parking bans, including Falmouth, Yarmouth and Scarborough. The bans in those towns started at noon Saturday and will continue until 6 a.m. Sunday. Portland’s parking ban began at 10 p.m. Saturday and ends at 6 a.m. Sunday, and a ban in Brunswick goes from 11 p.m. Saturday until 7 a.m. Sunday.

Sunday should be sunny and breezy with highs in the upper 20s, although temperatures are expected to drop beginning around midday and will fall to the single numbers Sunday night.


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