From Staff Reports

The phone calls began about 4 a.m., before a single snowflake had fallen in the Twin Cities.

By 6 a.m., officials from school districts in both Lewiston and Auburn had decided to pull the plug on public school for the second straight Friday.

“Sometimes, it’s a pretty easy call,” said Jude Cyr, business manager at the Auburn School Department. “You wake up, and the roads are covered and it’s an easy decision.”

Not this time. Forecasters Thursday night were calling for up to eight inches of snow, topped by icy rain. But the storm had slept late again Friday, and school officials started checking with other districts and watching forecasts on the weather channel.

Snowy wet conditions in Massachusetts and points south made strong arguments, Cyr said.

Turns out it was good call. Fat flakes began covering city roads by 7 a.m. Streets were coated by midmorning and the sleet and icy rain began falling by 2 p.m.

By 4 p.m., Farmington had already collected 4 inches of snow, according to Franklin County Sheriff and weather watcher Dennis Pike. In Rumford, several inches of snow fell by late afternoon, before changing over to a rain-snow mixture.

Throughout western Maine, the weather created hazardous driving conditions, but few wrecks or unintended off-road adventures, according to police.

Friday’s storm is expected to vacate the area this morning, with overcast skies and slight winds. Sunday should be cold, according to forecasters.

It’s a typical weather pattern for the last few days of Autumn, according to the National Weather Service’s Butch Roberts. He expects the coast to stay thawed for a while, temperatures there boosted by warm ocean water. Temperatures drop and snow amounts increase the farther west you go.

“We’ve been in this pattern for a little while, but it’s tough to say if this means anything for the winter overall,” Robert said. “Right now, that’s where we are.”

State offices were closed at 3 p.m. and workers were sent home. Police in Lewiston, Auburn and surrounding towns said there were few car wrecks and most of them were minor. State Police reported the same thing: cars and trucks slid off the highway, but no serious crashes were reported.

The storm played out slowly over the day, with people preparing for the worst by the afternoon. Officials at the Auburn YMCA said they were planning to close two hours early, by 4 p.m. Friday.

“That’s just to let everybody get home before it gets dark and things get bad,” said Mary Jipson-Perry, child care director for the YMCA. “That means everybody, our staff as well as the parents of our kids.”