LEWISTON — Wendy King didn’t have trouble getting to work Monday.

“I walked,” she said.

She started to shovel that mountain at the end of her driveway left by the plow, then decided walking to Lewiston City Hall would be easier than driving. And she doesn’t live far.

Like King, a lot of people decided to stay off the slippery roads during the storm Monday, most by staying home and sitting out the snow and wind that lingered much of the day.

Few ventured to City Hall where King works to register their vehicles. “Most of the people coming today are registering snowmobiles,” she said.

After Gov. John Baldacci declared a state of emergency Sunday, shutting down state government on Monday, many heeded the advice to stay off the roads.

There were few shoppers in stores. City offices in Lewiston and Auburn opened late. Many businesses also opened late. The mail was delivered as usual, according to the Lewiston Post Office. UPS halted deliveries Monday.

Even Lost Valley ski trails in Auburn opened late, at 3 in the afternoon instead of 9 in the morning, to allow customers to arrive safely, co-owner Connie King said.

The storm was a gift, she said. “We’re loving it, loving it, loving it. It’s perfect timing, on a Monday at the beginning of school vacation. School is out, so this is a big deal. School vacations are always very important.”

Lost Valley makes its own snow, but the natural stuff adds to the trails. “It saves us a lot of money and allows us to open fully and open faster.”

While the storm was serious and created dangerous driving conditions, it fell short of reaching the official blizzard category in most areas, Channel 13 meteorologist Craig Miller said. Compared to other parts of the East Coast, Maine was spared.

“Some people think blizzard means three feet of snow,” Miller explained. To reach the blizzard status there needs to be three or more hours of wind gusting 35 mph with the visibility less than a quarter mile and heavy snow drifting.

Most regions experienced the wind and snow drifting but not necessarily for three consecutive hours. “We can’t officially call it a blizzard, but we had blizzard conditions occurring,” Miller said. Only Augusta, Waterville and Bangor met the official blizzard criteria.

The Sunday-Monday storm was the first significant one of the season, dumping between 7 and 18 inches throughout Maine with winds creating whiteout conditions. The snow seemed to fall sideways and up and down.

Snowfall ranged from a high of 18 inches in Leeds to 15 inches in Rangeley to 12 inches in Lewiston, according to Channel 13. Bretton Woods in New Hampshire got a whopping 34 inches. Maine’s Sunday River near Bethel got 18 inches, and Sugarloaf 18 to 20 inches.

“But with a storm like this it’s extremely difficult to get accurate storm measurements,” Miller said.

Considering that roads most everywhere were snow-covered much of Monday, the Maine State Police and local police reported few accidents.

“We’ve had no real traffic issues to speak of,” Auburn Police Department Deputy Chief Jason Moen said. “So far we’ve had a few minor accidents. People are using due diligence with the weather. It helps out that some places closed today.”

“Not too many people are on the road,” Lewiston Police Department Lt. Mark Watson said. “Most people just stayed in. That gives us a chance to be able to get around.”

State Police spokesman Steve McCausland reported a fatal crash in Wells Sunday night when a pickup went off the road and struck a tree, killing the driver. Wells Police were investigating that crash.

Power outages were reported throughout the day, mostly due to high winds. Central Maine Power reported that 3,000 Maine households were without electricity Monday morning and claimed to have gotten all but 150 back online by 1 p.m.

But unrelenting winds and snow boosted the number of power outages to 4,000 by mid-afternoon. At 9 p.m., 366 homes were still in the dark, according to CMP.

“We had scattered outages all through the day, but our crews were able to restore power in most cases in just a few hours. No one should be out overnight,” CMP spokesman John Carroll said.

Lewiston Public Works Director Dave Jones said plow truck drivers have been working steadily, “but this thing keeps going and going. I thought it was going to stop snowing a few hours ago,” he said in the early afternoon. “That’s not happening. We’ve had whiteout conditions for a while.”

The roads were snow-covered but drivable, Jones said, if people use common sense. “One guy passed me on Sabattus Street doing 50 mph. You’ve got to take it easy, be courteous.” He hoped the roads would be cleared Monday night.

Auburn extended its parking ban on all city streets through 6 a.m. Tuesday morning.

Conditions will improve Tuesday, meteorologist Miller said. The sun should come out. No snow is forecast, but it will still be windy and cold. Temperatures will be in the low 20s, but it will feel like the single digits. The National Weather Service issued a wind chill advisory through noon Tuesday for several western Maine counties, including Franklin and Oxford.

Staff writer Andrew Cullen contributed to this story.