A tow truck driver prepares to remove a car that got in an accident on Forest Avenue in Portland on Friday morning. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer

A winter storm dropped several inches of light, blowing snow in southern Maine on Friday and temperatures hovered in the teens, providing a drastic change from the spring-like weather just two days earlier that drove the temperature to a record-high 66 degrees in Portland.

Snowfall started just after 5 a.m. on Friday and peaked in the late afternoon before tapering off in the early evening. The storm was at its heaviest between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., forcing drivers to take it slow for most of the day.

“The roads are cold, and it’s cold snow, so it’s mostly blowing off the roads,” Donald Dumont, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray, said early Friday. “It (was) a simple little storm.”

Friday’s snow was light and cold, with no mixed precipitation or ice. There were no major impacts to power lines. Throughout the day, the total number of power outages statewide rarely exceeded 50, according to outage websites for Central Maine Power and Versant Power. CMP reported no outages Friday evening. 

Several flights in and out of the Portland International Jetport were canceled or delayed Friday morning and afternoon because of the storm, but it caused few other noticeable disruptions.

Snowfall was forecast to be heaviest along the coast of southern Maine, where Cape Neddick recorded 11 inches by midafternoon. Other parts of York County, including Kennebunkport, had received more than 5 inches by the time the snow started to taper. The weather service reported 4.5 inches in Portland, nearly 6 inches in Cape Elizabeth and 4 inches in Brunswick by late afternoon.

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Totals were expected to taper off farther north and inland, with the Augusta area receiving roughly 6 to 8 inches, Dumont said. Conditions cleared up by early evening. 

Winds were between 10 and 15 mph, and there was little to no coastal flooding. Temperatures remained in the high teens and low 20s for most of the day.

All state offices were closed Friday because of the weather. Portland City Hall and all the city buildings were closed, as was South Portland City Hall. 

A citywide parking ban in Portland was set to be in effect from 10 p.m. Friday until 6 a.m. Saturday.

Saturday is expected to be sunny and top out around 30 degrees, ideal for cleaning up after a snowstorm.

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