A snowstorm blanketed coastal Maine with up to 7 inches of snow Friday.
Flakes began to fall before dawn, prompting travel warnings and shutting down schools. The storm moved from south to north during the day, and light snow was still falling in some places by dusk. The National Weather Service in Gray warned that gusty northwest winds could make conditions hazardous overnight as they reach 30 or 35 mph.
“It wasn’t a wet heavy snow,” meteorologist Maura Casey said Friday afternoon. “It was a dry snow. It gets picked up by the wind easily, and it can lead to poor visibility.”
The totals calculated by 4:35 p.m. Friday showed coastal areas got the most snow. Eastport led with 13.8 inches. Cape Neddick in York reported 8.6 inches. Saco and Old Orchard Beach got more than 6 inches and the Portland International Jetport recorded 5.4 inches. Farther inland, Hallowell saw 3 inches, and Bethel less than 2.
“The totals dropped off pretty quickly once you go toward the west and the north,” Casey said.
The timing of the storm caused many towns and cities to call off school for the day. Among them were Portland, South Portland, Cape Elizabeth, Scarborough, Biddeford, Saco, Yarmouth and Lewiston. Parking bans were declared for Friday night in Portland and a dozen towns. Courthouses were also closed.
Spokeswoman Shannon Moss said the Maine State Police responded to minor crashes and slide-offs, but none with serious injuries. She reminded drivers about the state law that requires them to move over or slow down when passing emergency vehicles on the side of the highway.
The storm also did not appear to cause many power outages Friday.
Casey said Saturday would be mostly sunny with temperatures in the 20s in the Portland area, and Sunday could bring a wintry mix of sleet and freezing rain. But she was mostly keeping an eye on a hit of Arctic air expected early next week.
“That would be the thing to turn your attention to,” she said. “We have overnight low temperatures in the negative single digits Tuesday morning and Wednesday morning.”
Source: National Weather Service
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