A Jeep splashes through a puddle Wednesday on Western Avenue in Augusta, near the Augusta Armory. The storm brought strong winds and heavy rains to central Maine, closing schools and causing power outages. But rivers stayed below flood levels. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

A winter storm slammed Maine with several inches of rain and gusty wind Wednesday night and Thursday morning, though the state escaped the flooding some forecasters had predicted.

While the storm caused power outages and canceled classes at schools across the state, central Maine rivers largely stayed below flood levels.

A flood watch was issued through Thursday morning in Kennebec and Somerset counties, which received 1-2.5 inches of rain, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Jerry Combs.

Wind gusts reached 56 mph in Augusta and nearly 40 mph in southern Somerset County, knocking out power to thousands of homes in the area.

The cold, rain and snow let up Thursday morning and caused less snowmelt than some had expected. The weather service lifted its flood watch at around 6 a.m. Thursday.

“It remained pretty breezy through the overnight hours, but it dropped off a bit after that,” Combs said.

Augusta officials posted a closure warning on Front Street in Augusta along the banks of the Kennebec River prior to Wednesday night’s storm. High winds and heavy rain canceled schools and caused power outages, but flooding remained minimal. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal file

Meteorologists cautioned earlier this week that several inches of rain could overwhelm the state’s rivers when coupled with the several inches of snow on the ground in most areas, though the storm’s impacts appear to have been minimal.

“The snowpack held more, and we just had a pretty dry fall, so that certainly helped prevent flooding,” Combs said.

The Kennebec River swelled to about 9 feet higher than its usual level in Skowhegan by Thursday morning, United States Geological Survey data showed, but remained below the minor flooding stage of about 15 feet.

A water gauge downriver in North Sidney forecasted the Kennebec to swell to about 13 feet Thursday afternoon before receding. Minor flooding at that gauge begins when the river rises to 17 feet.

Augusta City Manager Jared Mills said in his weekly update to city councilors that most of the reservoirs that feed into the river are currently low enough to handle additional runoff.

Dry weather is expected through early next week, though spurts of snow and rain are possible through Thursday afternoon and evening, the weather service says. The Kennebec River’s water levels are expected to recede over the weekend.