A heavy band of snow moved through Maine late Tuesday, dumping a half-foot of snow on southern parts of the state as fast as 3 inches an hour.

Much of the snow that fell across the state came during a “thundersnow.” In Portland, snow was falling at more than 3 inches an hour, but in North Sebago a weather spotter reported snow was falling at a rate of 6 inches per hour.

“You know how hard it can rain during a thunderstorm. This was essentially the same, except snow,” said Tom Hawley of the National Weather Service in Gray. “It can snow very hard during a thundersnow.”

Hawley said there may be some lingering off-and-on snow showers Wednesday, but the accumulating snow has moved out of most of the state. A heavy band of snow was moving through the Houlton area before 8 a.m. and could linger there for several hours, he said.

In Portland, 6.7 inches of snow were recorded at the jetport. Other snow totals include 9.8 inches in Lewiston, 10 inches in North Sebago, 8.8 inches in Gray, 9 inches in Monmouth, 10 inches in Turner and 6 inches in Hollis.

The speed limit is reduced to 45 mph for the entire length of the Maine Turnpike. No major accidents were reported early Wednesday.

While the snow may be mostly done for today, meteorologists are keeping their eye on a storm that could bring snow or a mix of snow and rain to Maine on Saturday morning. Hawley said models are indicating another storm, but it’s too soon to say exactly how it could track.

“It could be all snow or partly rain,” he said. “There’s a chance it could miss us. We’ll see what happens.”

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