PORTLAND (AP) – Mainers awakened to the coldest morning of the winter Thursday as subzero temperatures combined with brisk winds to put the state in the deep-freeze.

Overnight lows included 17 below zero in Greenville, 15 below in Presque Isle, minus 9 in Augusta, minus 8 in Bangor, minus 5 in Wiscasset and 1 above in Portland.

The National Weather Service posted a wind-chill warning for northern Maine and the western mountains, cautioning that conditions in some places may make it feel as cold as 45 below zero. A less severe wind-chill advisory was in effect for central portions of Maine.

The weather service in Gray said an arctic cold front moving in from eastern Canada was responsible for the bone-chilling cold. Forecasters said anyone venturing outdoors should dress in layers and protect exposed skin.

A pre-dawn power outage left most of Dover-Foxcroft and three neighboring towns without electricity at a time when temperatures had fallen below zero.

The Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Department said the Dover-Foxcroft fire station was kept open to accommodate people who needed to leave their unheated homes. One woman was transported from her home by ambulance with symptoms of frostbite in her feet.

The six-hour outage, which began around 3:30 a.m., affected Dover-Foxcroft and parts of Bowerbank, Sangerville and Guilford.

Central Maine Power traced the problem to a transmission line but said the specific cause was not immediately determined.

The Maine office of AAA was deluged with hundreds of calls from motorists whose vehicles failed to start because of the cold weather. Spokesman Matt McKenzie said the auto club expected to handle as many as 3,000 requests for emergency road service before the day was over.

McKenzie said motorists would be well-advised to have their car and truck batteries tested. “If it’s weak or marginal, you’re going to want to replace it,” he said.

The cold spell was expected to continue into the weekend until the next clipper-type system brings minimal precipitation to the region Sunday night and early Monday.

AP-ES-01-08-04 1313EST