AUBURN — Just after noon Friday in Auburn, a police officer at the bottom of Goff Hill sent out a frantic message to emergency dispatchers.

“They’re piling up left and right down here,” the officer said.

That pretty much described the state of things across the region.

With snow falling heavily throughout the day, it was the kind of traffic nightmare from which we’ve been spared most of the winter. Cars and trucks were slipping, sliding and crashing.

At the same time cars were piling up on Goff Hill in Auburn, a tractor-trailer and four cars slid off Poland Spring Road a town away.

In Lewiston, the usual spots were a problem: After the drivers of several vehicles were unable to crest Bartlett Street hill, including a semi tractor, police closed off the roadway until it could be properly sanded and salted.

In Paris, a tractor-trailer jackknifed at the intersection of Paris Hill Road and Route 26 at 11:40 a.m., causing several cars to crash and forcing police to close off the roadway. One person was taken to Stephens Memorial Hospital in Norway with a possible injury.

At 12:30 p.m. in Greenwood, a car flipped onto its side on South Pond off Greenwood Road, and another stretch of road was temporarily blocked to traffic.

Earlier in the day in Livermore Falls, an SUV skidded out of control through the intersection of Park and Maple streets and struck a Pontiac, which slid into a house. A Livermore Falls man was treated for a neck injury. 

In Windham, a three-vehicle crash at about 3 p.m. forced the closure of Route 302 just before the Friday evening commute.

The National Weather Service in Gray said snow falling at a rate of 1-2 inches per hour made it difficult for city crews to keep the roads cleared. 

When the storm began to wind down around 5 p.m., Turner was reporting 10 inches of fresh snow. Seven inches fell on Lewiston and the surrounding area, while 5 inches were reported in most parts of Oxford County.

Mostly sunny skies were in the forecast for the weekend with a chance of snow showers on Monday.