The National Weather Service in Gray issued a wind chill advisory for Wednesday night into Thursday morning.
The 4:06 p.m. advisory stated that increasing winds were expected to create wind chills from 20 to 30 below zero across northern New Hampshire and western Maine.
Dropping temperatures created skating rinks for drivers on Route 2 in Hanover and Bethel, and on Route 26 in Bethel soon after the advisory was issued.
Storm-related accidents across western Maine were relatively minor, dispatchers said.
“Accident calls have been steady all day,” said Maine State Police dispatcher Jeff Denison in Gray. “They’ve been frequent, but nothing serious. We’ve been very fortunate so far.”
Most of the accidents, he said, occurred on rural, secondary roads in York, Cumberland and greater Androscoggin counties, and I-295 through Portland.
An Oxford County dispatcher had little to say about storm-related accidents in the area, while a Franklin County dispatcher said crashes had been minor throughout the day.
Mexico police and firefighters handled their first accident of the day shortly after 3 p.m. when a passenger car slid across Route 2, went up and over a large snowbank, missing a utility pole and hitting two trees at the bottom of an embankment.
It was not immediately clear if anyone was injured; the investigating patrolman did not return calls.
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