A two-day storm that moved out of the region Wednesday after lashing Maine with bands of rain and snow will give way to a blast of cold weather that will stick around through the weekend.
William Watson, a forecaster at the National Weather Service office in Gray, said Mainers will see temperatures drop Thursday and then plummet on Friday, when strong winds could make it feel like zero during the day.
The snow over the two days was heaviest in inland areas, with Kingfield in Franklin County receiving more than 8 inches, the weather service said. Other snow totals included 4.5 inches in Harrison and Farmington, 5 inches in Bethel, 3.2 inches in Rumford, 1.1 inches in Biddeford, 1.2 inches in Scarborough, 1.8 inches in Brunswick and 3.2 inches at the Portland International Jetport.
The storm caused power outages, especially in inland counties such as Oxford, Somerset and Franklin. Central Maine Power Co. reported just over 8,000 customers were without power, most of them in Oxford County, shortly after 5 p.m. Wednesday. As of 9:30 p.m., nearly 6,500 CMP customers were still without power.
The messy mix also created sloppy and slippery road conditions that resulted in numerous accidents Wednesday morning in southern Maine. One multi-vehicle crash was reported around 8:30 a.m. between exits 25 and 32 on the Maine Turnpike. The vehicles were partially blocking the road after the crash.
A second crash was reported around 8:45 a.m. near Mile 45 southbound in Portland. That crash blocked the left lane while it was being cleared, according to the turnpike authority.
Shortly before 10 a.m., a fully loaded logging truck crashed on a curvy, snow-covered section of Sebago Road in Naples and ended up on its side in a ditch, spilling the logs, the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office said. The driver, 55-year-old Phillip Howard Jr. from Bennington, New Hampshire, was evaluated but was not seriously injured.
Sebago Road had to be closed so the 53-foot truck could be removed. The truck is owned by Jason Curtis Outdoor Services of Chichester, New Hampshire.
Dozens of schools across southern and central Maine delayed or canceled classes Wednesday because of the rain and ice. In Portland, officials decided to close school when sidewalks weren’t clear in time for students to walk to class.
Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at:
dhoey@pressherald.com
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