Snow squalls Sunday afternoon and evening in many parts of Maine were a precursor to the weather forecasters say is likely for Tuesday into Wednesday.

Meteorologist Jon Palmer of the National Weather Service said at about 3:45 p.m. Sunday that snow squalls were hitting New Hampshire and on course to hit the Lewiston-Auburn area in the early evening.

Snow squalls tend to bring extremely low visibility and can produce half an inch to an inch of snow in a 20-minute period, he said.

Palmer said motorists are urged to keep off the roads because heavy travel can pack the snow and create slick roads before plow crews can clear road surfaces.

“In a lot of ways, traveling through snow squalls is a lot more dangerous than your normal lighter snow you’d see in a winter storm, even though those end up with a lot more snow,” Palmer said.

The storm expected to begin Tuesday evening could bring 3 to 6 inches of snow to eastern Maine and 1 to 3 inches to western Maine, according to Mike Haggett of Pine Tree Weather, a small weather monitoring and forecasting service in Kennebunk.

Days after historic flooding, the Maine coast is not expected to see much wind because polar and subtropical jets met too late to form a serious storm, Haggett said, but travel conditions could be affected into Wednesday morning.

The snow Tuesday night and Wednesday morning should be light and fluffy in most places, making for quick and easy removal. With colder temperatures in Maine’s near future, however, untreated roads could be “slick as glass,” Haggett said.

According to forecasts from the National Weather Service, much of Androscoggin County is expected to see 1 to 2 inches of snow, but should clear up Wednesday. After that, no snow or rain is expected through at least Saturday.

Androscoggin County is expected to see gradual decreases in the temperature throughout the week, with a high Sunday afternoon of 34 degrees, falling to 28 degrees Monday and 20 degrees by Saturday. Friday could bring a small amount of snow.

“We’re really going to feel it Wednesday night and Thursday,” Haggett said. “Whatever storm we get Friday, everybody’s going to have a chance of waking up with wind chills below zero on Saturday.”

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