A bicyclist peddles on slick roads during a winter snow storm, Tuesday, Feb. 2, in Brunswick. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) AP

BRUNSWICK — A winter storm with heavy gusts of wind caused slippery driving conditions and school cancelations in the southern Midcoast and across New England.

Snow started falling in the Midcoast on Monday evening and continued Tuesday before switching to sleet, according to the U.S. National Weather Service in Gray.

Between 6 and 8 inches of snow had fallen in the Midcoast, according to the Northeast River Forecast Center by 5 p.m.

A winter storm warning was to remain in place until 7 p.m. Tuesday and called for heavy mixed precipitation and storm gusts of up to 40 mph.

Meteorologist Derek Schroeter with U.S. National Weather Service said late Tuesday afternoon that the weather service was generally expecting 8 inches of snow mixing with sleet in the Brunswick area. The weather service has received reports of  6 inches of snow and at least an inch of sleet in the Bath-Brunswick area

Southeast New Hampshire saw upwards of 16 inches due to the storm, which hit the western mountains hardest in Maine. The mountains are expected to get between 12 to 18 inches of snow in total.

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Due to heavy winds and snow expected through Wednesday, Central Maine Power reported Monday it was preparing for power outages. The utility has positioned 300 lineworkers across its service area. There were no widespread outages reported by the utility in the Midcoast region Tuesday, however.

Regional School Unit 1, Regional School Unit 5, Maine School Administrative District 75, Brunswick School Department and West Bath School canceled school for Tuesday due to the storm.

The first shift at Bath Iron Works was also canceled. The second shift is open for normal operations at all facilities, according to Local S6, the shipyard’s largest union.

Mid Coast Hospital canceled its COVID-19 vaccine clinic at Brunswick Landing Tuesday. The clinic, which opened Jan. 25, is vaccinating those 70 and older by appointment only and expected to administer 800 vaccines a day, six days a week.

Judy Kelsh, a spokesperson for Mid Coast, said 358 people were scheduled to get a vaccine at the clinic Tuesday. All of them were contacted to reschedule their vaccinations for another day this week.

“Our clinics will run as scheduled for the remainder of this week, and this will not impact the number of doses that we receive or deliver,” Kelsh said.

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Topsham closed its municipal building and waste facility Tuesday because of the storm. The town offices were also closed in Freeport and Bath. Bath canceled curbside collection Tuesday and didn’t run the city bus.

Despite the storm, Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office didn’t have any crashes reported as of late Tuesday afternoon, according to Chief Deputy Brett Strout.

Topsham Public Works Director Dennis Cox said early Tuesday afternoon that he had a crew of eight people working to keep 100 miles of road clear in Topsham.

“It makes it more challenging for our employees — for the drivers, and it also makes it tougher on residents staying off the roads longer,” Cox said of storms that stretch for more than a day.

Brunswick declared a parking ban from 10 p.m. on Tuesday until 7 a.m. on Wednesday. The parking ban is for all town roads and municipal parking lots, including the Recreation Center.

Topsham has a parking ban in effect until noon on Wednesday and Lisbon’s parking ban is in place until 5 a.m. Wednesday. Bath doesn’t allow vehicles parked on public streets for more than 30 minutes between midnight and 6 a.m. during the winter.

Unrelated to the storm, Topsham has Winter Street closed at the Elm Street Extension intersection due to a water main break Tuesday. Cox said the water was restored to the area and road work was expected to continue Tuesday afternoon.

Rick Wallace clears a sidewalk with a snowblower during a winter snow storm, Tuesday, Feb. 2, in Freeport. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) AP


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