Spring teased Kennebec County this past weekend, but citizens had to refresh their winter travel skills Monday when a storm front swept through Maine.
“People should drive real slow and keep space between vehicles,” cautioned Staff Sergeant Christian Behr of the Augusta Police.
The region can expect the snow to continue and mix with sleet into the evening, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Derek Schroeter. It’ll taper off to a freezing drizzle around 7 p.m. for another hour.
“We could still see accumulations of 2 to 4 inches today,” Schroeter said.
Augusta Public Works director Lesley Jones said crews have been out since 3 a.m. Monday, and she rescheduled another crew to come in overnight.
“I expect it to be slippery until after midnight,” she said.
Behr said there have been a number of slide offs and motor vehicle accidents due to the slippery weather conditions, but none have been serious.
“It’s an average storm day as far as cars off the road,” said Behr, adding that because it has come at the tail end of winter, it has caught drivers unaware.
Sean Goodwin, Kennebec County Emergency Management Agency director, said all of the towns in Kennebec County have been impacted by the weather.
“The towns are doing a good job keeping ahead of everything,” he said.
In addition to state offices closing at 4:10 p.m., Winthrop postponed its planned budget workshop scheduled for Monday night.
Despite catching some by surprise, this kind of weather isn’t unusual for this time of year.
“We always get some sort of winter precipitation in April,” Schroeter said. “But the length of this winter is pretty impressive.”
Overnight will bring a brief break in the weather, Schroeter said, before snow returns to the region late Tuesday morning. It will mix with rain during the day and tomorrow night, and snow accumulations will be another 1 to 2 inches.
“People need to bring out their winter driving skills again,” Jones said. “It’s like December.”
National Weather Service reported said that Kingfield and Eustis had received around 6 inches, Schroeter said.
Spring conditions will return to the region Wednesday, Schroeter said, which will bring clearing. Warmer temperatures will return Thursday with sun and Friday with rain in the evening.
Abigail Austin — 621-5631
aaustin@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @AbigailAustinKJ
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