By David Sharp,Associated Press Writer

A relentless winter storm pounded northernmost Maine for more than 48 hours straight and dumped more than 3 feet of heavy snow in some places while most of southern Maine escaped with only rain followed by a scant inch of snow.

By the time the storm ended Tuesday, Fort Kent and St. Francis residents were digging out from 39 inches of snow, one of the biggest snowfalls ever in the St. John Valley. Clayton Lake had 38 inches, Madawaska 37 inches and Caribou 31.7.

The wintry blast served to underscore northern Aroostook County’s reputation for getting the nastiest weather that winter can dish out.

“There’s a saying around here: You’ve got nine months of winter and three months of bad sledding,” said meteorologist Duane Wolfe in Caribou.

Fort Kent Police Chief Kenneth Michaud arrived at work Tuesday in his pickup truck equipped with a plow blade. He decided to leave his patrol car at home.

“It’s unreal,” he said. “That’s what we call an old-fashioned storm. We used to have those when I was younger. It used to take a couple of days for people to dig out. It’s going to take a couple of days for us to dig out from this one, too.”

The snow began falling early on Christmas Day and the storm’s fury grew on Monday, when it was accompanied by winds of 20 to 30 mph.

Plow trucks worked throughout the storm but there were still side roads and sidewalks in need of attention late Tuesday afternoon.

On Main Street, residents purchased a half-dozen snow blowers and snowmobiles during the storm from Roger’s Sports Center, and there was a steady stream of people seeking to replace worn out or broken parts, said Bob Bonenfant, president and owner.

One man claimed he’d used his snowblower seven times in one evening to clear his driveway; he wanted a new visor to keep the blowing snow out of his face, Bonenfant said.

At the Gateway Motel in Madawaska, only one of eight scheduled guests arrived Sunday, and he had to wait until 7:30 p.m. for the driveway to be plowed, said Linda Deschaine, manager of the 46-room motel in Madawaska.

While the snow was a hassle, Deschaine said her phone lines were lighting up with snowmobilers looking to visit this week.

“I don’t care for it, but we need it for the business,” she said.

All of that snow was good news for the Maine Winter Sports Center in Fort Kent, which will host four days of biathlon trials starting on Thursday. Twenty men and 22 women will be vying for 10 spots on the team that will represent the U.S. at Turin, Italy.

Just a few weeks ago, people had been worried if there would be enough snow for the biathlon, which combines cross-country skiing with target shooting.

The heaviest band of snow was in northern Aroostook County, in the St. John Valley.

The 39-inch snowfall may have been a record for the St. John Valley, but there aren’t records to say so with certainty, said Victor Nouhan, lead forecaster from the National Weather Service office in Caribou.

But Caribou’s 31.7 inches of snow was enough to set a record for snow on three consecutive calendar days, he said. And the one-day total of 20.7 inches for Monday set a record for the date and was the seventh-snowiest day on record in Caribou.

There was a sharp dividing line to the north where there was snow and to the south where there was rain. In Houlton, for example, there was 10.5 inches.

Portland and Eastport, both on the coast, received about an inch of snow.

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