Maine was blanketed in fresh powder overnight Tuesday into Christmas Eve morning, with snowfall totals ranging widely from a few inches in some places to well over a foot in others.
The heavy snowfall caused thousands of power outages that had stretched into a second day by Thursday night for about 1,100 Central Maine Power Co. customers on the Midcoast, led to snow parking bans in some communities, and prompted officials to close municipal offices and ask for patience as crews cleared roads and sidewalks. Meanwhile, many Mainers rejoiced over a white Christmas and headed outside to enjoy the festive conditions.
“This has been quite a storm — all the folks who wanted a white Christmas sure got their wish!” Auburn Public Works Director Scott Holland said in a written statement.
More than a dozen people were bundled in snow gear at the Eastern Promenade in Portland on Wednesday afternoon, gliding down the hill in skis and on sleds.
Scarborough resident Jason Uviasah, 41, smiled while watching his son, 3-year-old Zion, trudge up the hill with an L.L.Bean snow tube. He said this is their first winter season using the sleds.
“Having a snow day when you don’t have to work … just adds to the whole holiday, festive mode,” Uviasah said.
The most snow accumulated in Freeport — an even 17 inches, according to the National Weather Service. Meteorologist Jon Palmer said Lisbon received 16.8 inches and Auburn reported 16.5 inches. Several other communities across Androscoggin, Kennebec and northern Cumberland counties also measured well over a foot.
Palmer said the low-pressure system stalled between Lewiston and Brunswick on Tuesday night, causing those areas to get hit the hardest.
Brunswick and Bethel reported 10 and 10.5 inches, respectively. Most of the Midcoast saw 6-7 inches of snow, Palmer said.
Much of central Maine woke up to 8-12 inches of snow, with 8.1 inches measured in Augusta and 9.7 inches in Winthrop. Litchfield reported 15.5 inches as of Wednesday morning, Palmer said.
At the Portland International Jetport, the snowfall reached over 6 inches, while a more interior portion of the city got north of 9 inches, according to the weather service.
The weather feature that caused the heavy snowfall is relatively unusual, said Palmer, who works at the National Weather Service’s office in Gray. It’s called a Norlun trough — an oblong area of low pressure that brings heavy bands of snow to a localized area.
The trough stalled between the Lewiston-Auburn area and Brunswick overnight, pushing more and more snow into those communities, Palmer said. By Wednesday morning, the trough had moved mostly offshore.
A winter storm warning from the weather service that had been in effect for much of southern, central and western Maine expired early Wednesday afternoon.
CLOSURES AND OUTAGES
The heavy, wet snow caused thousands of power outages across the state, especially in coastal communities, according to Central Maine Power.
As of 9 p.m. Thursday, over 1,100 CMP customers remained without power for a second day, according to the company. Sagadahoc County on the Midcoast had 1,000 of those outages, with over 700 in Phippsburg.
CMP had restored power to more than 53,000 customers since the storm began Tuesday night, according to a statement on its website.
Almost no outages were reported by Versant Power in northern and eastern Maine, which dodged the brunt of the storm.
The snow also caused several closures across the state, including town and city offices, courthouses and libraries. All state offices were closed at Gov. Janet Mills’ direction.
Parking bans were issued in many communities, including Augusta, Bangor, Bath, Berwick, Biddeford, Boothbay Harbor, Brunswick, Freeport, Gardiner, Kennebunkport, Lewiston, Lisbon, Old Orchard Beach, Rockland, Saco, Sanford, Scarborough, Topsham, Westbrook and Windham.
Public works officials asked for patience as their crews cleared the roads.
“There is a lot of snow and not a lot of space to put it, so it’s going to be slow going,” said Holland, the Auburn public works director. “We hope everyone will stay in and enjoy the holiday, if possible, and allow us to get things cleaned up.”
IMPACTS OF THE SNOW
Tuesday’s snowy evening commute prompted Maine State Police to reduce speeds along parts of the Maine Turnpike. The Maine Turnpike Authority sent alerts of at least five car crashes.
Several departures and a few arrivals at the Portland International Jetport were delayed, most by roughly an hour, on Wednesday morning as last-minute holiday travelers headed for their destinations, according to the flight tracking website Flightradar24. Jetport officials said earlier this week that Monday was the busiest day for travelers but reminded passengers to check their flight status before heading to the jetport.
Lewiston Highway Operations Manager Reggie Poussard said his crews started hitting the roads at about 9 p.m. Tuesday to prepare and begin clearing what totaled over 15 inches of snow, according to the National Weather Service.
The city’s “A-team” of some 30 snow plow drivers worked all night Tuesday, signing off at about 10 a.m. Wednesday, Poussard said.
As of late Wednesday morning, the city’s “B-team,” in some 13 trucks, was working on primary and secondary roads, clearing accumulations and rescraping some of what was already cleared. Sidewalk crews were also out to help out the foot traffic, he said.
“We had pretty good notice, and that was a good thing,” Poussard said. “We were able to get things ready, to treat roads ahead of the storm. Thankfully, the snow has been on the fluffier side.”
“Anytime you have over 6 inches, it poses a lot of challenges like finding places to push snow,” Poussard continued, adding that the extra challenge is keeping roads safe as many travel for the holidays. “The increase in traffic is challenging, but we’re snow fighters — we get it done so people can get around and have a good Christmas.”
In Oxford County, Sunday River ski resort celebrated after a foot of snow accumulated in the Mahoosuc Mountains overnight. The snow and cold temperatures have made this December’s skiing conditions “the best they have been in nearly a decade,” according to a news release from the resort.
Siblings Mitchell and Kade Kelley, both 24, said the rest of their family went skiing at Sunday River on Wednesday while they hung out at the Eastern Promenade with their sister Evelyn Perry.
As Perry, 31, skied down the hill in a bright orange snowsuit, the Kelleys treaded around in the powder. Mitchell, who lives in South Carolina, and Kade, who lives in Chicago, both said they were happy to be welcomed back home to Maine with fluffy snow.
“I feel like it’s been years since we’ve had this much snow on Christmas that I can remember,” Kade Kelley said.
“Yeah, it rekindles that childlike magic,” Mitchell Kelley added.
Staff Writers Joe Charpentier and Jake Freudberg contributed to this report.
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