As Maine’s most recent winter storm wound down Saturday, snow totals were less than expected in some southern coastal areas – around 6 to 8 inches – while inland towns in southern and central Maine were walloped with a foot or more.
Still, the wet, heavy snow felled trees, caused sporadic outages throughout the day and contributed to dozens of accidents on the Maine Turnpike and Interstate 295.
The storm had been predicted to bring one of the season’s largest snowfalls to southern Maine, with forecasts calling for 8 to 12 inches around Portland and 12 to 18 inches inland. But it “underperformed” slightly in some coastal areas, said Stephen Baron, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray.
By the time the snow stopped early Saturday evening, the storm had dropped about 4 inches in Cape Elizabeth, 8.5 inches in Portland and 9.6 inches in Brunswick, according to measurements gathered by the weather service. For inland towns, Shapleigh and Limerick had more than 11.5 inches, Windham was at 12 inches, South Paris had 17 inches and Lisbon Falls had 13 inches.
Some of the other snowfall totals in Cumberland County as of Saturday evening included 12.5 inches in Cumberland, 11.3 inches in Gray, 11 inches in Baldwin, 10.1 inches in Gorham and 10.6 inches in Falmouth.
Baron expected most of the snow to stop by 6 or 7 p.m. Saturday, with later snow showers possible, adding just an inch or so to afternoon totals.
Catie Jungmann of Portland shields herself from blowing snow while walking at the Eastern Promenade on Saturday. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer
The snow that fell in Greater Portland and other parts of southern Maine was wet and heavy, with temperatures around 32 degrees most of Saturday, Baron said. But inland temperatures were lower, and the snow was fluffier and less densely packed, which is why the snow measurements were higher, Baron said.
He said the Saturday night forecast called for temperatures in southern and central Maine to be in the low 20s with clear skies. On Sunday, temperatures around Portland will be in the low 40s, with 30s as far north as Franklin County, making it a good day for storm cleanup.
By late Saturday afternoon, state police had responded to 53 crashes or cars that slid off the road on both the Maine Turnpike and I-295, said Shannon Moss, the agency’s spokesperson. She said no major injuries were reported.
After 10 a.m. a truck jackknifed on the Maine Turnpike on mile 29 in Arundel between Wells and Kennebunk. That prompted officials to close that section of highway. The left lane of the northbound road was blocked and closed, with the center lane open. Motorists were advised there would be delays, but with one lane open, traffic was moving.
In Portland, 10 accidents were reported, with no injuries, and 55 cars were towed for violating the city’s parking ban during the day Saturday, said Brad Nadeau, the department’s spokesman. Portland’s ban began Friday night and will end 6 a.m. Sunday. At least a dozen other communities in southern and central Maine had parking bans in effect Saturday.
Though the wet, heavy snow brought down trees and power lines in some areas, the overall number of people without power at the end of the day was relatively small. At around 8 p.m. Saturday, Central Maine Power was listing 488 customers without power, out of a total 668,927. Most of those – 322 – were in Sagadahoc County. Around the same time, Versant Power, which supplies electricity to much of the northern half of the state, was reporting 43 customers without power, out of more than 165,000 customers total.
Baron said large areas of northern Maine, including areas of Aroostook County, got little or no snow from Saturday’s storm.
Most of the outages were caused by heavy, wet snow in the coastal, southern Maine areas, which prompted trees to fall, taking down power lines and knocking out power, CMP spokesman Jonathan Breed said. Because most of the outages Saturday were caused by a single incident, power could be restored fairly quickly, he said.
Yunok Hatt of Portland shovels the walkway in front of her property on Sheridan Street on Saturday. Hatt, who has owned properties in Portland for 25 years, said that she started at 6:30 a.m. and had been going since. She had shoveled three of her properties and said that she would have to go back and do them again. “My legs are hurting,” she said. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer
CMP crews are at the sites where trees have fallen and are working to clear trees and restore power lines, he said.
The weather caused the closing of libraries, transfer stations, recreations centers, banks and other businesses across the areas of the state affected by the storm. News Center Maine (WCSH/WLBZ) posted more than 150 closings or cancellations on its website.
To help more people stay off the roads and keep customers and employees safe, two store chains, Mardens and Renys, closed all of their stores on Saturday, according to the stores’ Facebook pages.
Light traffic moves through Portland on I-295 on Saturday. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer
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