9 p.m.
Central Maine Power Co. continues to make progress in restoring electricity to customers who lost service during Saturday night’s record-breaking snowstorm.
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About 41,000 customers remain without service, down from a peak of about 145,000 this morning, according to a news release. A total of 207,000 homes and businesses lost service at some point during the storm.
While some emergency power crews will be working overnight, customers who have not had service restored by 10 tonight will likely remain without power through the night, said CMP spokesman John Carroll.
CMP expects to restore service to nearly all of its customers by late Monday night. The only exceptions will be where damage was particularly widespread — in many York County communities and scattered in parts of Sagadahoc and Lincoln Counties in Maine ’s Midcoast.
These are the remaining customer outages by county: York 20,560; Lincoln 5,275; Cumberland 4,510; Sagadahoc 3,110; Androscoggin 2,867; Kennebec 1,693; Franklin 1,238; Knox 939; Oxford 508; Somerset 224; Waldo 82; Penobscot 24; Hancock 11.
7:20 p.m.: 76,000 remain without power after early nor’easter
About 76,000 Mainers remain without power this evening after a record-setting, pre-Halloween snowstorm downed power lines and trees across the region Saturday night.
Central Maine Power Co. reported that more than 207,000 customers lost power during the early nor’easter, mostly in York and Cumberland counties, with a peak of nearly 145,000 customers without power on Sunday morning.
CMP crews worked through the night and today dealing with blown transformers, snapped lines and downed tree limbs.
They were assisted by private contractors and crews called in from Canada, said company spokesman John Carroll. They have restored much of the backbone of the power system, including all hospitals and other critical facilities.
“But it is likely to be several more days before our crews reach many customers on secondary roads and in rural areas,” Carroll said.
The storm set records in Portland, where 5.2 inches made it the largest single snowfall on record in October, according to the National Weather Service in Gray. The previous record of 3.6 inches was set on Oct. 27, 1962, and repeated on Oct. 22, 1969.
Portland’s snowfall also set a new record for the month, outpacing the previous record of 3.8 inches in October 1969.
The storm socked interior locations and spared coastal areas, where relatively warm ocean waters kept much of the precipitation in the form of rain. Accumulations ranged from 20 inches in North Acton to 2 inches in Brunswick.
“The variation was huge,” said Butch Roberts, a technician at the National Weather Service in Gray.
4:14 p.m.: 5.2 inches of snow sets Portland October record
There are still about 103,801 homes and businesses, mostly in the state’s southern counties, without power.
By BETH QUIMBY
Staff Writer
The early snowstorm caused widespread power outages and set weather records in at least Portland.
The 5.2 inches of snow recorded in Portland overnight made it the biggest single snowfall in October. The previous record of 3.6 inches was set on Oct. 27, 1962 and Oct. 22, 1969, said the National Weather Service in Gray.
The total snow fall for the month of October in Portland also set a record at 5.2 inches, outpacing the previous record of 3.8 inches in October 1969.
As of 2:30 today, there were still about 103,801 homes and businesses, mostly in the state’s southern counties, without service. That’s down from up a high of 145,000 earlier today.
Most of the outages are in Cumberland County (18,501) and York County (34,879).
The storm, which is now winding down, socked interior locations while coastal areas were spared.
“The variation was huge,” said Butch Roberts, hydro meteorological technician at the National Weather Service in Gray.
The storm, which dumped up to 17 inches in interior York and Cumberland counties, dropped up to 2 feet in the Berkshires in Massachusetts and 22 inches in Concord, N.H.
The snow is not expected to stick around long because the ground is warm and temperatures should warm up as the week progresses, said Roberts. Skies should clear this afternoon with temperatures in the 40s. Sunny skies and high temperatures in the 50s are expected through Thursday.
Power outages had knocked out some street lights, such as Woodford’s Street at Stevens Avenue in Portland but the storm has caused no major accidents so far, reported Portland Police and Maine State Police.
Much of Westbrook was without power this morning but no traffic accidents had been reported, said Westbrook Police. Several streets were closed down during the night due to fallen power lines and trees but by 10 a.m. this morning only Pierce Street remained closed.
About 80 streets were without power in Saco this morning but Camp Ellis on the coast, a frequent site of flooding, was unscathed by the storm, Saco Police said.
Ogunquit had widespread outages this morning and three minor traffic accidents during the storm.
York Police said there are scattered power outages throughout town. During the worst of the storm they received calls about eight blown power transformers. York Police said trick or treating has been moved from tonight to Monday from to 4 to 8 p.m.
Most of Kittery is without power as the town waits for Central Maine Power crews to show up, said Kittery Police who have received hundreds of calls from residents about trick or treating. It is still scheduled for tonight, police said.
Service on the Amtrak Downeaster trains 690 (6 a.m. from Portand) and 691 (8:50 a.m. from Boston) was canceled this morning. Other trains were to run as scheduled.
This morning Scarborough emergency workers were dealing with downed trees and power lines in the Route 1 area and northern part of town but no serious traffic accidents had been reported.
Lebanon Rescue Chief Samantha Cole said rescue workers are checking on the welfare of residents with known medical conditions who are without power. She also rescheduled her department’s Halloween open house from tonight to 5 p.m. Monday at the town’s rescue station on Carl Broggi Highway.
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