Light snow and freezing rain are likely to make the Friday morning commute slippery, and forecasters are keeping their eyes on a storm system that could bring significant snowfall to Maine on Monday and Tuesday.

The National Weather Service Office issued a winter weather advisory Thursday afternoon for Portland and most of southern and central Maine that warns drivers they may encounter light road icing on their way to work Friday morning. The advisory was to take effect at 3 a.m. Friday and last through 10 a.m.

“The accumulation will be light, but just enough to make the roads slick if they remain untreated,” meteorologist Michael Clair said. Road icing was likely to be more pronounced inland than along the coast.

The weather service is forecasting light, mixed precipitation with total snow and ice accumulations up to 1 inch. As temperatures warm, the freezing rain was expected to change over to rain by early afternoon in most areas except the mountains.

Portland should experience dry weather on Saturday and Sunday, with plenty of sun in the forecast for Saturday and temperatures in the mid-40s.

But on Sunday evening the weather could take a turn for the worse.

Forecasters are looking at a “complex” weather system that could move into the state Sunday night and last through Tuesday, Clair said. The winter storm has the potential to regenerate off the coast, producing two waves of snows. Clair called the storm “odd.”

Clair stressed that it is still too early to predict how much, if any, snow will accumulate, but he added, “It has the potential to become a significant snowstorm.”

Though there is a still a degree of uncertainty about the impact from Sunday night’s storm, more details should become available as the weather system moves closer to Maine, Clair said.

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