Mother Nature may have saved her best for last, dumping more than 14 inches of heavy, wet snow across much of the state – the biggest snowstorm of the season.

“We got more snow in March and April than in all of December, January and February this year,” said Art Lester, meteorological technician with the National Weather Service in Gray. “Normally it’s the other way around.”

It wasn’t just the calendar that seemed out of sync Thursday. Public works crews were wearing a path between the street sweepers and plow trucks at municipal garages. Lewiston and Auburn public works crews started sweeping streets clear of winter debris this week before the storm made them change gears and fire up the snowplows.

“We keep the plow trucks out until April 15, usually because there’s often one storm that creeps up on you at the end of the season,” said Aaron Scalia, highway supervisor in Auburn. “Old Man Winter likes to come back on you.”

While the mountains reported a powdery snowfall, central Maine and the coast got just the opposite.

Wet, dense snow – perfect for snowballs and snowmen – fell throughout the night, keeping public works crews busy and setting a record in Portland where 5 inches of snow fell between midnight and 9 a.m. The previous record was 5 inches in 1911.

Locally, Wilton and Temple had the most snowfall at midmorning: 18 inches. Lewiston (13.5 inches) and Auburn (14.8 inches) clocked in with a little less, as did Andover at 16 inches and Bethel at 15.

The weight of the heavy snow downed wires and trees, causing power outages to nearly 117,000 Central Maine Power Co. customers.

By 5 p.m. that number had been reduced to 87,800, but CMP spokesman John Carroll said remote areas of the state could be without power into Saturday.

“People who live on camp roads or whose lines go through woods, they’re the ones who are most affected,” Carroll said. He said customers near the Bridgton service area – Otisfield, Fryeburg and Naples, for instance – were among the hardest hit. At 5 p.m., there were 3,400 outages in that area.

In the Lewiston service area, 1,690 homes were without power at noon Thursday; by 5 p.m. it was 375.

Gov. John Baldacci signed an emergency declaration that allows utility crews from neighboring states to help restore power. Crews from N-Star, a utility based in greater Boston, were on the way.

Lester said varying temperatures forecast over the next several days means the snow won’t melt quickly.

The National Weather Service is not anticipating any flooding at this point, he added.

Scalia and Paul Boudreau, director of public works in Lewiston, said the Easter-season nor’easter was a challenge for crews to stay ahead of, but they had it under control. Both men said their crews tried to be especially careful not to push the snow too far back onto softening residential lawns.

Another upside to the storm: school cancellations meant young Red Sox fans could watch pitching phenom Daisuke Matsuzaka’s debut in Kansas City. A little closer to home, the Portland Sea Dogs had to postpone their home opener.

But the team made the best of it, positioning 11 snowmen – nine players, a batter and an ump – on Hadlock Field. It was the second time since 1994 that opening day was delayed by snow.

“April is a crappy month here. The temperatures try to move up and something always comes through to knock them back,” Lester said. “It’s never what you think April ought to be.”

Staff writer Terry Karkos and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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