Another powerful storm to blast Maine on Tuesday night

Tim Swinburne clears snow from vehicles at Portland Volvo in Scarborough on Monday morning. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

Another storm will head into Maine late Tuesday, this one dumping heavy, windswept rains on top of the snow that fell Sunday, likely causing power outages and some flooding before it blows out of the state Wednesday afternoon.

The storm is expected to start as snow before changing over to heavy rain in most of the state except high-elevation areas, forecasters say. Many areas could see 2 inches or more of rain amid warming temperatures. It comes on the heels of Sunday’s snowstorm, which dropped a foot or more of fluffy, light snow across southern Maine, including 18 inches in Gorham, Standish and Hollis and 12.8 inches at the Portland International Jetport.

“It is going to be a very dynamic system that will start out as snow Tuesday night,” said Greg Cornwell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Gray. In Portland and coastal areas, the snow will quickly flip over to heavy rain early Wednesday. Temperatures will rise to 50 degrees in some areas Wednesday, leading to rapid snowmelt and some flooding.

Wind gusts are expected to hit 60 mph along the coast Wednesday, potentially leading to power outages.

Forecasters say the storm is unlikely to have as much impact as the Dec. 18 storm that killed four people and knocked out power to more than 400,000 customers, but there are some similarities.

The December storm packed wind gusts of 60 mph and brought heavy rains that melted snow and caused widespread flooding across many areas, especially central Maine. Minor to moderate flooding is likely along the coast Wednesday.

The National Weather Service on Monday issued high wind and flood watches starting at 10 p.m. Tuesday. The weather service’s coastal flood watch will take effect at 8 a.m. Wednesday.

Cornwell said western mountain areas are expected to see 8 to 12 inches of snow before the storm turns briefly to rain. That’s good news for ski resorts, which lost much of their snow cover after the December storm, but in coastal areas, the storm will bring mostly rain and high winds, and power outages are expected.

“Most utilities in New England are preparing for some kind of impact from this storm, and CMP is no different. We have been monitoring this winter storm since late last week and have already secured additional line and tree crews, which will be pre-staging Tuesday night,” Central Maine Power spokesman Jon Breed said in a statement on Monday.

Breed said travel conditions will be hazardous throughout the day Wednesday. Breed said 13 outages during Sunday’s snowstorm were caused by vehicles crashing into utility poles.

“We don’t think this storm will be as severe as the storm we saw just before Christmas, but we are making preparations nonetheless,” Breed said.

Versant Power, which provides electricity to customers in northern and Down East Maine, warned customers Monday to prepare for outages that could last several days.

“We have internal and external line and tree crews ready to respond to storm damage Wednesday,” Versant Power’s storm manager, Warren Morgan, said in a statement. “With the potential for high winds to bring down trees and lines, we’re asking customers to prepare for a multi-day restoration.”

The intense storm system was expected to produce tornadoes, blizzard conditions, flooding and damaging winds in much of the Central and Eastern U.S., according to the Washington Post.

Most of the East Coast from Florida to Maine is in line for at least 2 inches of rain; some areas could see 4 inches or so. More than 65 million people are under flood watches.

Thursday’s forecast for Portland is calling for sunny skies and highs around 40 degrees. Another storm is expected to hit the state Saturday.