LEWISTON – You’re still sore from shoveling Wednesday. It seems like the snowbanks can’t get much higher. There’s been so many storms you’re almost insanely laughing about this one.

But despite the white stuff you’re seeing out your window again, all this snow is not breaking a record so far this winter. It is, however, above average.

Lewiston-Auburn today is expected to get about 10 inches of snow, predicted Channel 13 meteorologist Sarah Long. Heavy snow will fall between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. By 8 tonight the storm should be over, said Eric Schwibs of the National Weather Service.

This storm is not a blizzard. There won’t be dramatic winds or sleet. “Just snow, everybody’s favorite,” he joked. The forecasts “are getting to be like a broken record,” Schwibs said, adding more snow “is a nuisance.” He likes snow and enjoys snowshoeing, but this year “there’s too much of a good thing.”

So far, Portland has received 90.7 inches of snow, compared to the average winter that sees 72 inches. The snowiest ever was 1970-71 when Portland received 141.5 inches. “We have a ways to go” to beat that record, Schwibs said.

Lewiston has received 112 inches, compared to the 10-year average of 73, said Public Works Director Paul Boudreau. “Last year, we got 75 inches, the year before 35,” he said. “Usually the heaviest snowfalls are in March.”

If today’s storm adds another 10 inches and there are a few more storms, Lewiston could break its 144.9-inch snowfall record set in 1971. But Boudreau isn’t rooting for that. “We’ve had it. We’re tired of this,” he said. When public works crews aren’t plowing from a storm, they’re removing snow, day and night.

Typically in the second half of February and March there is more snow and ice melting than has occurred this year, Boudreau said. “The sun is a lot stronger. With 30 degrees you do get some melting. But we’ve had real cold days with not much melting, in between that a couple of warm days, then a storm. It’s been an unusual year.”

With so much snow a big concern is spring flooding, Boudreau said. “We’re getting our pumps ready, preparing sandbags, and keeping our fingers crossed.” In early spring, if the nights remain cool and the days mild, the snow melt will be gradual without serious flooding. But there will be flooding if there’s a sudden stretch of warm temperatures and heavy rain, which is what happened before the flood of 1986.

After this storm is over, Long said the forecast calls for another storm in the middle of the week, Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. “This one is different,” she said. It’ll start out as snow but quickly change to all rain, raising flooding concerns.

Even though March can bring more storms, Boudreau said he was glad to turn the February page on his calendar. “Every day that goes by is one day closer to warmer weather.”

Aside from the ski resorts, there’s at least one person with an unusually good attitude about snow, even on March 1.

On the front lawn of the Little Dreamers Daycare on the Allen Pond Road in Greene is an oversized snowman, actually a snow bear. The snow bear is holding a sign that reads: “We love snow!”

“My husband said we’re going to get hate mail for that,” joked day-care owner Cindy Morin. “I love snow. My husband does not.”

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So far this season

Lewiston: 112 inches

Portland: 90.7 inches

Amount expected in today’s storm: 8-10 inches

Records

Lewiston: 144.9 inches (1970-71)

Farmington: 164 inches (1968-69)

Rumford: 107.1 inches (1947)

Portland: 141.1 inches (1970-71)

Sources: National Weather Service, Lewiston Public Works, National Climatic Data Center

Averages

Lewiston: 78 inches

Portland: 72 inches

Sources: National Weather Service, Lewiston Public Works, National Climatic Data Center