LEWISTON – A day should make quite a difference, according to weather forecasters.

A sloppy storm that muddled through the area Friday, closing schools and government offices, could become a memory today.

“It’s going to warm up,” said meteorologist Andy Pohl of the National Weather Service in Gray. “If nothing else, the roads should be in pretty good shape Saturday.”

They sure weren’t Friday.

A pair of messy storms converged over New England early Friday morning, dumping up to 14 inches of snow in Central Maine. Snow had given way to rain and sleet by late afternoon.

The storm lacked the intensity and snowfall that the Valentine’s Day storm packed, which was good news for Maine Department of Transportation snowplow crews, MDOT regional manager Norm Haggan said Friday afternoon in Dixfield.

“We haven’t had the high winds, so the visibility has not really been bad,” Haggan said by phone Friday afternoon. “There’s been occasional bursts of wind that created whiteout conditions, but, so far, it’s been a little bit easier than the last one.”

Additionally, in Southern Maine, more people were out driving this time – sliding on and off the roads – but there were no serious accidents, a Maine State Police dispatcher said by phone in Gray as the storm was winding down, spreading sleet and rain across Southern and Western Maine.

In contrast, an Oxford County dispatcher in Paris said by phone late Friday afternoon that people were staying home, giving Oxford County emergency responders a very calm day.

Many Rumford businesses, like Bangor Savings and Franklin Savings banks, closed early due to the storm.

“The snow is definitely keeping people away,” Bangor Savings Bank teller Ronnie Hutchinson said by phone shortly after noon.

There was no school across Western Maine, and most streets from Dixfield to Rumford were devoid of cars by early afternoon.

By about 3 p.m. in Rumford, snow had mixed with wind-driven sleet then back to all snow.

“It was up to 24 degrees here in Dixfield, and that was as warm as it got, which is a good temperature for our salt to work, so you don’t get the sticky snow. Nothing’s packing down,” Haggan said.

“This storm was very well behaved,” National Weather Service meteorologist Jim Hayes said late Friday afternoon by phone in Gray. “Snowfall was heavy this morning, then there was a gradual changeover this afternoon to sleet and light drizzle southwest to northeast.”

Hayes said many places reported less than a foot of snow by late afternoon.

“We’ve only seen a foot in Hiram and Eustis, oh, and this just in, Rumford had 12.5 inches,” he said at 5:40 p.m. after another meteorologist called out the total inside the station.

Starting at 4 a.m., Haggan said he sent 59 snowplow and sand trucks out across his division’s 1,300 lane miles from Jackman to Skowhegan, to Turner and Waterford, through Bethel and Roxbury and northern Oxford County. Rumford Public Works crews went out an hour later and expected to be out clearing and sanding streets until midnight. They had equipment problems, with one truck malfunctioning and the sidewalk plow breaking down twice during the storm.

Haggan’s crews, however, only experienced minor equipment problems.

“It’s been a decent day, and we’ve taken good care” of the roads, Haggan said.

The Franklin County Sheriff’s Department had only two or three cars off the road all day, a dispatcher said Friday night.

Driving was difficult, according to Lewiston police, but most accidents were minor. With city offices, schools and many businesses closed all day or closing early, roads in the Twin Cities were empty.

“Still, we’ve dealt with a lot of crashes,” said Lewiston Police Lt. Mike Minkowsky. “My guys have been really busy, but most of the crashes have been low speed crashes. Not really that dramatic.”

City plow crews were busy, and Minkowsky expected the roads to be back to normal early Saturday.

The National Weather Service is calling for temperatures in the 40s Saturday and the 30s Sunday.

Another cold spell is due in the area on Tuesday, with temperatures in the teens.

PULLquote:

“This storm was very well behaved,”
National Weather Service meteorologist Jim Hayes
Snowfall totals

National Weather Service snowfall amounts (inches) as of 6:30 p.m. Friday:

Rumford – 12

Eustis – 12

Hiram – 12

Hartford – 9.4

Oxford – 8

Raymond – 8

Gray – 7.6

Auburn/Lewiston – 7

Livermore Falls – 7

Waterford – 6.5