,From staff reports

Winter is back and meaner than ever.

As promised, a snowstorm passing over the area on Thursday lingered throughout the day and dumped nearly a foot of snow in some areas by nightfall. There were no reports of injuries due to the storm.

But nearly 20,000 homes and businesses were in the dark as the wet, heavy snow brought tree limbs crashing down on power lines, Central Maine Power Co. reported.

If the snow wasn’t enough to rattle the nerves of Mainers, some people were also treated to unseasonable lightning bolts and crashes of thunder.

“It’s all part of the same storm. It’s just an indication of how powerful this storm is,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Steve Capriola. “It doesn’t happen often, but it’s not unheard of.”

Residents in Turner and Rumford reported brilliant flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder at 9:30 p.m. Capriola said similar reports were coming in from Cumberland County to Wilton.

In Rumford, the Fire Department’s Engine 5 flipped onto its side while traveling on Ellis River Road, a department spokesman said. Firefighters and others were in the process of getting it back onto the highway late Thursday night.

And a bucketloader for the town slipped off Route 2, a police sergeant said. No one was hurt.

Businesses and most government agencies closed early. Malls, stores and restaurants locked their doors as nasty weather kept customers away.

With snow already accumulating by dawn, school officials canceled classes for the first time in 2005, allowing kids and teachers to squander the day any way they chose.

Nine-year-old Ian May and his 7-year-old friend Bradley Fournier, both of Mexico, were ecstatic. It was their first snow day off all winter, and it was snowing “snowman snow,” Fournier said.

Six inches of new snow had fallen in the Twin Cities and surrounding towns by evening, according to weather observers. Forecasters were warning that another 4 to 8 inches would fall by Friday morning.

Some courts closed early, as did Lewiston and Auburn City Halls. Gov. John Baldacci shut down state government at 1:30 p.m. because he didn’t want state workers, legislators and others driving in darkness or on deteriorating road conditions.

State workers were sent home with a full day’s pay, and legislative committee meetings were called off or shortened.

It was not just government that called it quits as the wrath of the year’s first major storm hit the region. Most Congress Street businesses in Rumford had closed by 4:30 p.m. All non-essential state employees were sent home at 1:15 p.m., said Maine Department of Transportation western region manager Norm Haggan.

“This is what we live for, these storms. It’s like going to war, and you’re facing a major battle,” Haggan said.

Dixfield Public Works Director Tim Hanson echoed that sentiment.

“This is what we’ve been training for all winter,” Hanson said of this winter’s weekly series of 1- and 2-inch snowstorms leading up to Thursday’s blizzard. “This is like the World Series or the Olympics for us.”

Police around the state reported crashes and disabled cars and trucks on the roads.

The northbound lane of the Maine Turnpike in Auburn was shut down for three hours Thursday morning after a tractor-trailer jackknifed.

State police said the driver, 36-year-old Pedro Gomez of Wallkill, N.Y., was operating a double trailer for Yellow Freight Trucking. The rig struck a guardrail just north of the Auburn exit at 5 a.m. and jackknifed, blocking the northbound lanes, police said.

Part of the truck’s load of boxes spilled out onto the highway, and one of its fuel tanks ruptured. Gomez suffered minor injuries.

In Auburn, police had responded to dozens of snow-related calls by the middle of the afternoon.

“We’ve had a lot of accidents, but nothing serious at this point,” Lt. James Robicheau said about 4 p.m. “There have been a lot of fender-benders. There have been a lot of cars sliding off the road with no damage. We just keep saying it: You’re driving too fast. Give yourself more time to slow down and stop.”

On Young’s Corner Road, there had been four unrelated wrecks in the same spot by 3 p.m. Riverside Drive and Washington Street were also problem areas.

In Lewiston, there were fewer crashes but no less hassle. About 7:30 p.m., a fire engine was struck on Switzerland Road and two police cruisers got hung up on Spruce Street. Public works crews were dispatched to help.

At 8 p.m., a dispatcher advised local officers that they would only be responding to emergency calls until driving conditions improved.

Weather forecasters were predicting up to 20 inches of snow would fall in the mountains and 10 to 16 elsewhere before the storm abated early Friday morning.