A mix of sleet and freezing rain created treacherous driving conditions Tuesday and prompted the closure of state offices and some COVID-19 vaccination clinics.
The wintery mix began overnight and continued into the afternoon. Coastal areas, including southern Maine, got about 3/4 of an inch of sleet and inch and a quarter-inch or more of ice, according to the National Weather Service. Some areas of the state were expected to get several inches of snow.
The weather service reported .34 inches of freezing rain had fallen in Portland by 10 a.m.
Central Maine Power was reporting about 300 outages in Cumberland County and 783 outages scattered across York County at 11:15 a.m.
Earlier in the morning, more than 900 homes in Lebanon were without power after a tree brought down power lines. Lebanon Fire and Rescue said Upper Guinea Road was closed because a tree came down that could not be removed until CMP removed live wires.
Public safety officials posted warnings about road conditions on social media Tuesday morning and asked people to stay home if possible.
“Even though we haven’t seen much snow out of this storm (knock on wood), we have seen freezing rain and mixed precipitation. Our overnight officers are reporting the precipitation mixed with cold temperatures are causing icy road conditions,” Portland police wrote on Facebook.
The speed limit was reduced to 45 mph for the length of the Maine Turnpike.
Gov. Janet Mills closed all state offices on Tuesday because of the weather.
A plow truck clears snow and slush from Route 99 in Kennebunk where ice coated power lines on Tuesday. Staff photo by Gregory RecThe storm hampered efforts to get COVID-19 vaccines to older Mainers. MaineHealth closed three of its COVID vaccine clinics Tuesday and delayed the opening of several others.
Vaccine clinics in Belfast, Boothbay and Norway were closed Tuesday. Clinics in Westbrook and Scarborough delayed opening until 8:30 a.m., according to the MaineHealth website.
People whose Tuesday vaccine appointments were impacted by the closings and delays will get a call from MaineHealth staff to reschedule. For more information and answers to vaccine questions, go to MaineHealth.org.
A full list of storm closings is available here.
Copy the Story LinkSend 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.