AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Cars slipped off highways, snow shovels disappeared off store shelves and schools shut down statewide Wednesday as the first major snowstorm of the season – attended by soaking rain and high winds in many areas – swatted Maine.

State police said numerous cars had veered off the slippery Maine Turnpike by late morning. Meanwhile, the state Department of Transportation had dispatched nearly half of its plow trucks in southern and central Maine and planned to have the entire fleet of 400 out throughout the state by afternoon, said spokesman Mark Latti.

As predicted by the National Weather Service, snowfall was very heavy during the day, with accumulations of up to 14 inches expected in the western mountains and smaller amounts closer to the coast, where rain fell in some areas as the winds moved in.

In northern Maine, about 8 inches were expected, said meteorologist Mark Bloomer of the weather service bureau in Caribou.

Coastal wind gusts of 40-50 mph were expected to hit, adding to utilities’ worries of widespread power outages. But the storm brought joy to others.

“We’re loving this,” Ski Maine Association Executive Director Greg Sweetser said as snow piled up in the “sweet part” of the downhillers’ realm of western Maine.

The wet, heavy snow also promised to form a needed base for snowmaking in the days ahead, added Sweetser. “It looks like we’ve settled into a perfect pattern for the pre-Christmas rush.”

The snow rolled into Portland around the morning commute and turned into a swirling mix of wet snow and rain. With the messy precipitation blowing into his face, Jason Gato shoveled slush off the sidewalk in front a building.

Gato said he’d rather be inside, but in Maine you take what’s dished out.

“I don’t mind it. It could be worse,” he said. “It could be hurricanes or tornadoes. I’ll take this any day.”
Farther north in Bangor, Christopher Andersen said snow shovels were flying off the shelves at Broadway Hardware.

“They’re the most popular item this morning,” said Anderson, adding that 20 to 30 shovels had gone out the door by late morning.

The Maine Emergency Management Agency and utilities warned that the combination of heavy snow and wind could cause power outages.

They warned people using gas-powered generators, kerosene heaters and other heating or power sources during outages to make sure those devices are outdoors in fresh air in order to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning.

Associated Press Writer Clarke Canfield contributed to this report from Portland.

(Chuck Blaquiere photo)
(Chuck Blaquiere photo)

Heather Hartley struggles to push her stroller through the sidewalk on Hammond Street in Lewiston Wednesday morning while her daughter Chantae, 2, weathers the storm. She didn’t want to miss a doctor’s appointment.