Steady snowfall throughout the day was expected to moderate somewhat for the evening commute, at least in southern Maine.
The National Weather Service said that light snow will continue through the evening but the heavy snowfall of the mid-afternoon was expected to decrease, said Margaret Curtis, of the National Weather Service in Gray.
“Certainly the roads are getting slick and we’d advise using caution,” she said.
Several cities announced new parking bans as forecasters called for 3 to 5 inches of snow in the south on top of the roughly 2 feet dropped by Tuesday’s blizzard. Friday’s storm is expected to bring 6 to 14 inches in the midcoast and Down East.
Portland had received 2.6 inches at the Portland International Jetport by 1 p.m.
Portland declared a citywide parking ban because so much of the snow from the earlier storm still needs to be cleared, and residential streets have been narrowed by snowbanks, said Jessica Grondin, city spokeswoman.
Speed limits remain reduced on Interstate 295 and the entire length of the Maine Turnpike on Friday afternoon as a large area of snowfall spread over the state. Police agencies reported few crashes at the start of the morning commute, but there were a few crashes later, including a dramatic one in South Portland at 9:35 a.m.
At exit 4 onto I-295 northbound from Main Street in South Portland, the driver of a Chrysler PT Cruiser lost control and hit a light pole, which fell and crashed onto the car behind him. Two people were taken from the Chrysler to a local hospital with minor injuries, said Maine State Police Trooper Doug Cropper. The person in the following car was not injured.
Winds Friday were from northeast at 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 35 mph, the weather service said, and the day’s warm temperatures are likely to drop as the weather clears Saturday, the weather service said.
Many Maine school systems called off classes for the day and the University of Southern Maine closed Gorham and Portland campuses at 1 p.m.
David Hench can be contacted at 791-6327 or at:
Twitter: @Mainehenchman
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.