As we approach 5PM the worst of the storm is now behind us. It won’t be over for several more hours, but you could start cleaning up if you are OK with having a few more inches to do in the morning. Currently, the radar shows bands of snow moving in from the ocean and some of these still contain moderate snow. There could be several more inches of snow during the first half of the night and early Wednesday morning.

The map below gives a general idea of how much more snow will fall. Allow me an inch on either end of the scale as the final bands are notoriously fickle and can pop-up and dissipate in a matter of an hour.

2PM Update

Intense band of snow continues to fall over southern Maine centered mostly along the Turnpike including Portland. This band will continue to allow heavy amounts of snow to pile up for the next several hours.

As we head into the afternoon snow will continue to fall at varying rates across southern Maine. At times it may lighten up for a period of time before resuming full fury again. The bulk of the accumulating snow will have occurred by 10 p.m. this evening although a few more inches can fall until around 2 a.m.

9AM Update
It now appears with the bands of heavy snow having set up over Portland and surrounding communities we could be looking at a top 5 storm once again. Could we see 30 inch amounts in the same areas we did back in February 2013? That scenario is entirely possible. Portland needs to reach 23 inches for this to be a top 5 storm and reach 32 to break the record of two years ago. The winds have created blizzard or blizzard like conditions for many areas. At the Portland Jetport frequent gusts of wind over 35 miles per hour after 6 a .m. means this can officially be classified as a blizzard.

The winds are going to continue to be strong into the afternoon before slowly subsiding. The graph below gives an idea of the peak wind pattern and the decline. The time is located on the bottom.

Snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour will fall through the afternoon. Here’s a little inside secret. Every forecaster wants to figure out where the heaviest snow is going to ultimately show up when the storm is over. I think there will be a pocket of heaviest accumulation somewhere along the turnpike from Lewiston south through Portland and west of Kennebunk.

Winds are strong, but not ferocious. We are just far enough away from the center of the storm so the worst of the winds are remaining south and east of southern Maine. This doesn’t mean there won’t be any power outages, but they should be scattered and not widespread. The light nature of the snow means it can’t stick to the trees or wires and that lessens the chance of power interruption even further.

Snow Time Table
From noon until 7 p.m., another 4 to 8 inches of snow is likely. The snow won’t stop before dark, but will lighten thereafter. The heavy band of snow that’s been along the coastline this morning will rotate into the mountains and give them a moderate amount of snow. This is a coastal storm and as such ski areas will see generally 8 to 14 inches of snow with the highest amounts over southern areas.

The radar image below is for 10 p.m. By then the heaviest snow will be over with a band or two of moderate snow over the mountains. At times the snow will completely stop only to resume again for a short burst of snow.

After 10 p.m. there is still going to be some light snow, but any accumulation the second part of the night will be limited to 1 to 3 inches of new snow. I think the risk of any snow is gone before sunrise tomorrow.

There is another bit of snow for Friday, but this looks quite tame with perhaps a light amount of accumulating snow. Colder weather follows this weekend.

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