Residents and road crews still recovering from three weeks of heavy snow and rains will get a week’s reprieve before the next storm.

That one, due to hit either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, is looking like rain, said National Weather Service forecaster Kirk Apffel.

Joan Bouchard, flood secretary for the Androscoggin Unified Emergency Management Agency in Lewiston, groaned Friday when she heard the report.

“Santa may have to do the backstroke rather than come in on his sleigh,” Bouchard said.

“If you have snow on the ground now, you’ll have a white Christmas. But if you’ve lost the snow, then Christmas won’t be white,” Apffel added.

But on the plus side, he said upcoming weather is not expected to resemble Wednesday’s deluge.

Over the weekend, scattered light-snow showers have been predicted. Accumulations will be less than an inch, he added.

“After that and a cold weekend, temperatures on Monday and Tuesday will be warming,” Apffel said.

According to the weather service, a storm system will be organizing in the southeast corner of the country on Christmas Eve.

Forecasters then expect it to move northeast toward New England, where it will bring a chance of snow to the mountains and rain or snow elsewhere on Christmas Day.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com

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