LEWISTON — At last, a chance to complain about the weather has arrived.

Forecasters on Wednesday were saying nearly 10 inches of snow could fall before it’s over. And not just snow but rain and sleet and wind gusts of up to 40 mph, all of the winter stuff that makes grumbling about the weather such a fine Maine tradition.

The National Weather Service in Gray issued a winter storm watch to remain in effect between Wednesday and Thursday nights.

“Confidence is high,” it stated on the weather service website Wednesday afternoon, “for significant snowfall to occur in the warning areas with more of a mix of snow to sleet and freezing rain in the advisory areas. As snow winds down Thursday evening, freezing drizzle will likely develop across much of the area, as well.”

Complaining is one thing, safety is another. Police just about everywhere were issuing parking bans Wednesday night and urging drivers to be mindful of sloppy conditions in the morning. School officials were watching the weather and preparing to make a decision on whether to cancel classes.

“We’ll wait and see,” Auburn School Superintendant Katy Grondin said at about 9 p.m. Wednesday.

The snow was expected to begin before dawn in southern parts of the state. The Lewiston-Auburn area was expected to see the beginning of the storm right around daybreak, according to forecasts.

According to the Conklin family, amateur meteorologists in Turner, less than 30 inches of snow has fallen this season. Very little of that — just over 3 inches — fell in December and there has been very little since.

The Conklins were calling for between 5 and 9 inches; the weather service predicted between 8 and 10.

And while the belated arrival of real Maine weather might spur complaints from a lot of us, the people who manage to enjoy snow were not complaining at all.

“We were already planning to open nearly a dozen trails this weekend, even without Mother Nature dumping a pile of powder on top,” went the message posted on the Sunday River website Wednesday afternoon. “It’s a win win!”

Officials say Maine’s snow pack is currently at one of its lowest levels on record for this time of year. The results of Maine’s cooperative snow survey found measurable snow at only 14 of 59 locations around the state where snow measurements were taken Jan. 3 and 4.

Maine Geological Survey geologist Robert Johnston said the snow pack’s water content is in the lowest 10 percent on record.

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Check out the latest on the weather at southturnermaineweather.com, a website operated by school teacher Sue Conklin and her family in Turner.