Southern Maine will finally get snow this weekend, but the joy – and the headache – is likely to be short-lived and washed away by a midweek rainstorm.

The first substantial snowfall of the season is expected to drop up to a foot across southern Maine, with other areas seeing less accumulation. Southern York County is likely to see the highest snow totals.

Portland has recorded only seven-tenths of an inch of snow since July, far below the normal 19.4 inches expected by Jan. 5. Portland had recorded 4.7 inches of snow by this time last year.

Snow is expected to start moving into the region late Saturday night and “should be going pretty strong by the time people wake up Sunday morning,” said Andy Pohl, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray.

“The good news is it looks like this should be an all-snow event,” he said.

The weather service predicts Portland and areas south of the city will get 6 to 12 inches of snow by the time the storm ends Sunday afternoon. Parts of York County – including York, Wells, Kennebunk and Sanford – should expect 10 to 12 inches, Pohl said. The forecast predicts 6 to 8 inches in the Lewiston-Auburn area.

The National Weather Service issued a winter storm watch that will be in effect through Sunday evening for southern New Hampshire and portions of southern Maine, including York, Cumberland and Sagadahoc counties.

“This is the type of event that should be fun for people who enjoy snow,” Pohl said. “It should be good for making snowmen, but will cause some problems on the roads.”

The moderate to heavy snowfall could create dangerous driving conditions because of low visibility, the weather service said.

Crews from the Maine Department of Transportation are preparing to clear roads during the storm, spokesperson Paul Merrill said.

“We know the drill and hope the timing of the storm over the weekend will cut down on the amount of company we have on the roads,” he said. “We always encourage people to stay home if possible during snowstorms.”

People who do have to go out should give themselves plenty of time, go slow and allow extra space to allow crews to work, Merrill said.

Several airlines have issued travel advisories to and from Portland for Saturday and Sunday, Portland International Jetport officials said. American, Southwest and United airlines all announced they will waive fees for passengers who need to reschedule their flights.

WARMING SHELTER  

In Portland, an overnight warming shelter will open at 3 p.m. Saturday at First Parish Church. The city’s homeless winter emergency response plan says the shelter opens when the daily high temperature is 20 degrees or below, or snow accumulation is expected to be over 10 inches.

This will be the first time the shelter is open this winter. The storm comes just a few days after Portland cleared a large homeless encampment at Harbor View Memorial Park in what the city said was an effort to push people indoors this winter.

The shelter, funded by a grant from MaineHousing, offers three meals a day prepared by Maine Meal Assistance, snacks, clothes and other supplies. Staff also help get people onto housing wait lists, connected to other resources and into detox or recovery programs if needed, said Ben Skillings, executive director of Greater Portland Peer Services, which runs the shelter.

He said the warming shelter is critical during winter in Maine.

“There are a certain number of people who are just never going to go inside. They’re stubborn,” he said. “When the weather gets very cold, it gets deadly. Every year people die in Maine because they underestimate the weather.”

Skillings said they will send outreach workers to the homeless community to try to get them to come into a shelter.

“The outreach workers do a great job. They have a good idea of where people are outside and can go find them and bring them inside on really cold days,” he said.

They will also give anyone who wants one a ride to the city’s Homeless Services Center in Riverside.

As of Friday morning, there were 58 open beds at the Homeless Services Center – 22 for women and 36 for men – a city spokesperson said.

RAINSTORM ON DECK FOR NEXT WEEK

The snow is expected to end by Sunday afternoon or evening, giving people time to clean up before they go back to work and school on Monday. But people will need to keep an eye on a Wednesday storm that could cause flooding and power outages.

“The midweek storm will be more of a challenge,” Pohl said.

While still too far out for firm predictions, Pohl said, that storm is likely to bring a couple of inches of rain to coastal areas. The rain, coupled with runoff from the snowpack across the frozen ground, could cause river flooding. Power outages also are possible.

But that storm is not expected to be a repeat of the rain and windstorm on Dec. 18 that caused extensive damage and killed four people.

“Our customers have been patient, understanding and appreciative while we’ve worked over the holidays to repair the damage done by the Dec. 18 storm,” said Merrill, the DOT spokesperson. “We expect they’ll continue to be patient, understanding and appreciative while we work to clean up this first real winter snowfall over the weekend.”

The December storm knocked out power to nearly 500,000 customers and triggered catastrophic flooding.

Jon Breed, a spokesman for Central Maine Power, said the company is preparing for the weekend storm by doubling up some of its crews in case of crashes that damage poles. Hazardous winds are not expected to be a problem this weekend, he said.

CMP officials are watching the track of next week’s storm very closely and will have a better sense by Monday of what may be needed to prepare, Breed said.

“We’re not anticipating anything major like we saw a few weeks ago,” he said.

Copy the Story Link

« Previous

Court files reveal new details of ‘complex’ large-scale illegal marijuana grows at central Maine residences

Next »

Marty Engstrom, Maine’s reluctant celebrity TV weatherman, dies at 86