Driving conditions in Maine could be hazardous during the Monday morning commute after temperatures plummet overnight and roads freeze over.

“There’s going to be quite a lot of ice out there,” Margaret Curtis, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray, said late Sunday afternoon. “We are expecting everything to freeze up overnight.”

Curtis said the warm weather Sunday afternoon lasted only a few hours, so the ground is still cold. That means refreezing could only take an hour or two in some areas, especially with temperatures expected to be about 10 degrees Fahrenheit overnight.

“The good news is we don’t have any new precipitation coming in,” Curtis said.

On Sunday morning, some flights were canceled or delayed at the Portland International Jetport and about 2,600 customers lost power across the state as a messy storm switched from snow to freezing rain and to rain.

The storm triggered a rash of fender benders and coated sidewalks and driveways with ice, but no serious injuries were reported.

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The cancellations and delays at the jetport were due to icing in the early morning, the communications center reported. Travelers were advised to check their flight’s status before setting out. Most of the power outages were in Androscoggin County, where icy conditions knocked out power to about 1,800 Central Maine Power customers.

As of 5:20 p.m. Sunday, only 305 CMP customers were without electricity.

Pedestrians faced a skating rink in downtown Portland. Some people were seen on their hands and knees in Monument Square as they tried to negotiate the ice on sidewalks, while others inched their way along or opted to tromp through the snow to avoid falling.

Much of the ice quickly melted, though, as temperatures rose to nearly 50 degrees Sunday afternoon.

The weekend weather system provided some interesting temperatures around the state, noted Andy Pohl, another meteorologist at the weather service office in Gray. At 10:30 a.m. it was 47 degrees in Bar Harbor and 30 degrees in Bangor.

The storm spread about 4 to 6 inches or more of snow around the state on Saturday. Bridgton got the most, at 8 inches, while Portland got 5 inches before the precipitation switched to rain.

Temperatures are expected to drop to near freezing by 8 p.m. Sunday and continue falling overnight. Monday should be dry and cold, with highs in the low 20s.


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