Latest storm underwhelms; another rolling in

It was just enough to be a nuisance.

After days of hype, an overnight storm dropped less snow than forecast, although there was enough that it needed to be shoveled and plowed in most areas. In most parts of Androscoggin County, between 4 and 5 inches fell.

In Franklin County, snowfall amounts ranged from 1 inch in Kingfield to the 3½ inches in Jay. In Oxford County, 5 inches fell just about everywhere, although in Porter, it was closer to 6.

By Thursday afternoon, temperatures had dropped into the teens so there was no chance the snow was going to melt. And adding to the confusing nature of the storm, another storm was rolling into to drop more snow on the region.

How much will we see in round 2? Even that gets a little weird.

“While most of the region can expect an additional 4-8 inches between 7 a.m. Thursday and 7 a.m. Friday, there is the potential for areas to pick up as much as foot where banding sets up,” wrote Mike Haggett, of Pine Tree Weather. “Granted, this will be miserable to accurately measure as it is going to blow around. Some areas may have bare spots, others may have two feet in places.”

The National Weather Service in Gray issued two separate weather advisories for the storm, one for northern Maine, where 3-5 inches of snow was expected, and another for southern New Hampshire, where ice and freezing drizzle was in the forecast.

Meteorologists had originally predicted up to a foot of snow in some areas between Wednesday night and the early part of Thursday. High winds were also in the forecast, although they never developed.

After readying crews for the storms, Central Maine Power by late afternoon Thursday had zero outages to report.

City crews made quick work of the snow Thursday morning, doing what they could to keep the downtown open for business.

“We tried to pay extra attention to the sidewalks downtown during the storm for the businesses that were open,” Lewiston Public Works Director Mary Ann Brenchick said. “Daytime storms add to the difficulty of getting through neighborhoods and downtown efficiently. The crews left at 3 p.m. and we are on standby for the next round of snow coming in tonight, then we will assess the need for snow removal in any areas.”