Southern Maine’s heaviest snowfall since October sent dozens of cars spinning off roads Thursday, led to one highway fatality, closed schools for some students, and gave a boost to snow-dependent businesses.
The storm hugged the coast for most of the day, dropping 10 inches of snow on Scarborough and 8 inches on Portland while inland communities such as Bethel got 6 inches.
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Despite the wide variation in snowfall, no one at the Sunday River ski resort in Newry was complaining. “It has been a good day,” said spokeswoman Darcy Morse. More than 60 trails were open Thursday and another 10 trails are expected to open for this holiday weekend.
Mike Cempa, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Gray, said the storm trumped the freakish Halloween weekend snowstorm, which dropped 5.2 inches on Portland.
Cempa said that since Oct. 30, the Portland area has had several dustings of snow, ranging from two-tenths of an inch to 1.1 inches, on Dec. 23.
Today’s forecast is for pockets of drizzle near the coast with temperatures pushing 40 degrees by afternoon. Cempa said it could be a good day to get outdoors to do some skiing or snowshoeing.
One business that benefited from the storm was the Seacoast Fun Park, off Route 302 in Windham, which transforms from a summer amusement park to a winter snow park, where visitors can snow tube or ride a zip line.
General Manager Ginny Davis said the park will be open tonight through Monday, Martin Luther King Day. At night, the crews light up the park and start a bonfire.
“The snow was great,” Davis said Thursday evening. “It gets everyone back in the mind-set that this is winter.”
The unpredictable nature of the storm triggered an unusual call for the public’s help in Portland. City spokeswoman Nicole Clegg asked residents to participate in a voluntary parking ban.
Clegg said the initial forecast called for 2 to 4 inches of snow and more rain along the coast, but as the day wore on it became obvious that Portland would get blasted.
“We ended up getting a lot more snow than we anticipated,” said Clegg.
The city, which prefers to enact mandatory parking bans by noon, opted to call for a voluntary ban Thursday afternoon.
No one would be towed if they left their vehicle on the street, but moving the car to a city-owned garage or a designated lot would expedite the cleanup, the city said.
The weather also made decisions difficult for school superintendents early Thursday morning. For students in places such as Freeport and Westbrook, Thursday turned out to be a snow day. In towns including Cape Elizabeth and Scarborough, superintendents opted to hold classes.
One fatal accident was reported, said Steve McCausland, spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety.
Patricia Tardif, 74, of Jay was killed when the car she was riding in went off Town House Road in Vienna and hit a tree. Her husband, Albert Tardif, 51, survived.
“There were dozens of cars that slid off roads,” McCausland said. “It was challenging for drivers everywhere, but the vast majority of crashes were caused by people driving too fast.”
The Maine Turnpike Authority said a tractor-trailer carrying fuel rolled over around 6:30 p.m. in York County, spilling more than 100 gallons onto the roadway.
The crash occurred in the northbound lanes of the turnpike between Exit 19 in Wells and Exit 25 in Kennebunk. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection responded to the spill.
Dan Morin, spokesman for the turnpike authority, said conditions “were quite horrible” but no injuries were reported even after dozens of cars slid off the highway.
A tractor-trailer truck whose brakes locked up around 11 a.m. came to a complete stop in the middle of the northbound lanes in Saco. Drivers went around the truck, but traffic was delayed.
The speed limit on the turnpike was dropped to 45 mph at 8:41 a.m. — and the lowered limit remained in effect throughout the day.
Staff Writer Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at:
dhoey@pressherald.com
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