
Kat Mitchell walks to work Tuesday in Auburn. “It’s very festive for Christmas,” Mitchell said about the snow falling on Christmas Eve. “Another day in Maine,” she said. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal
Parts of Maine reported a snowy Christmas Eve on Tuesday, with up to a foot falling in some places.
As of 11:30 a.m., the National Weather Service in Gray said 6 inches of snow had fallen in Rangeley, 5 inches in Madrid, 1 inch in Freeport, 3 inches in Lewiston and as many as 8 inches in nearby Jackson, New Hampshire.
Portland received only a dusting of snow.
Jon Palmer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Gray, said forecasters expected precipitation to slow down in inland areas through Tuesday morning but said snowfall would continue up and down the coast, with 1-3 inches expected from Portland through the Midcoast.
By 2 p.m., the National Weather Service station in Caribou said snowfall had ended everywhere except Washington County, where just over 7 inches had been recorded in Eastport around 1:30 p.m.
Elsewhere in northern and central Maine, there was as much as a foot of snow in the Piscataquis County towns of Sangerville and Parkman.
Penobscot County had 9 inches of snowfall in Dexter and more than 8 inches in Bangor and Bradford. And along the coast in Hancock County, some towns saw at least 5 inches.
Palmer said Christmas Day would be “a pretty nice day” in Maine.
He forecast that Wednesday would start off mostly clear, with some clouds building in the middle of the day all around the state. Temperatures are expected to be in the low 30s, meaning the accumulated snow should stick around.
The forecast is expected to stay similar until Sunday, when 1 to 2 inches of rain will likely fall around the state, although Palmer said there could still be snow in the White Mountains.
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