This is not an April Fool’s joke. It’s real.

I wouldn’t joke around about a threat of power outages, especially after the winter we’ve endured.

An area of low pressure will move into Maine late Tuesday through Thursday and intensify over time. Heavy, wet snow is expected to fall, especially overnight Wednesday into Thursday where accumulations will be greatest.

This will bring a threat of power outages to some parts of the state. The risk will be high where the heavy, wet snow coats tree limbs and power lines. Adding more than 30 to 50 mph wind gusts to wet snow will make the situation worse, with the potential to bring down branches.

Snow amounts could top a foot, especially away from the coast. The biggest wild card is the coastline and how much mixing with sleet and rain occurs.

The White Mountains in New Hampshire, Oxford Hills, and Carrabassett Valley, plus the southwest interior of Maine will be hit especially hard as the storm gets stronger and brings cold air down to ground level with a lowering of pressure and heavy snowfall rates.

The wind will begin to ramp up late Wednesday through Thursday, and that’s when the power outage threat goes up.

Also, late Wednesday is when the storm changes from rain to snow after sunset. Snow is expected to fall heavily around daybreak.

Some snow will change over to rain or sleet along the coastline with a higher April sun angle and less accumulation.

The east and northeast winds will get stronger into Thursday as the storm becomes vertically stacked to our east.

The storm is lingering, but without heavy snowfall rates and cold air, everything will quickly turn to slush, especially at the coast.

The storm slowly shifts away over the weekend but some sprinkles and flurries will linger on Saturday.

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