Winter’s second punch brings high winds, up to 15 inches of snow to southern Maine

The second storm in two days brought heavy snow and strong winds to Maine on Tuesday, causing numerous vehicles to slide off slick roads and closing many schools and state government.

Most of the state got significantly more snowfall Tuesday than during Monday’s storm, which mostly affected York County.

It was still snowing through most of the state Tuesday afternoon, but the storm was winding down by evening.

According to the National Weather Service in Gray, Kennebunk received a total of 15 inches of snow from both storms. The two-storm total for Ogunquit was 12.4 inches, Kittery 10 inches, Sanford 6 inches, Norway 7 inches, Windham 8.5 inches, Pownal 6.5 inches, Scarborough 13 inches, South Portland 11.6 inches, Gorham 10 inches, Portland 8 inches, Falmouth 7.2 inches, Brunswick 7.5 inches and Belfast 2 inches.

Northern Maine also saw significant snowfall Tuesday. The National Weather Service’s Caribou office reported that Houlton got 9.5 inches of snow, Caribou 8.7 inches, Millinocket 7.5 inches and Bangor 4.3 inches.

Stacie Hanes, a meteorologist with the Gray office, said the coast received the heaviest snowfall. Bethel and Newry, which is home to the Sunday River ski resort, got just one inch.

Hanes said the rest of the week is looking pretty mild. It will be partly sunny with highs in the 30s on Wednesday in Portland, and no precipitation is expected before Sunday evening, when southern Maine could get some sleet changing to rain Monday, Hanes said.

Winds gusted up to 35 mph Tuesday, but only 85 Central Maine Power Co. customers had lost power as of 5 p.m. Emera Maine, which serves customers in northern and Downeast Maine, reported one outage. Those numbers declined as the storm ended, with a just a handful of customers reporting power losses.

Tuesday morning’s commute was treacherous, with cars and trucks sliding off roads, but no serious injuries reported. The condition of roads worsened throughout the morning as heavier bands of snow arrived, and snow was falling at a rate of an inch an hour by late morning.

Tuesday’s snowfall was more significant over a broader area than Monday’s totals, except in York County, where up to 9 inches of snow fell Monday in some areas.

The city of Portland declared its first citywide parking ban of the winter starting Tuesday at 10 p.m. and lasting through 6 a.m. Wednesday.

“Because this is the first major storm of the season, it is imperative for our plow crews to be able to plow as close to the curb line as possible,” said city spokeswoman Jessica Grondin in a news release.

Despite the slick travel conditions, no serious crashes were reported Tuesday morning. In Hallowell, a vehicle rolled over early Monday morning on Winthrop Street, but no one was injured, according to the Hallowell Fire Department.

A Windham plow truck slid off the road Tuesday morning at Highland Cliff and Montgomery roads, but it was not damaged and the driver was not injured, said Capt. Bill Andrew of the Windham Police Department. A few other cars also slid off Windham roads, but Andrew said there were no significant crashes.

“Knock on wood, I think people are adhering to the advice to stay off the road and taking it slow,” he said.

Paul Merrill, spokesman for the Maine Department of Transportation, said some slide-offs have been reported, but there had been no serious incidents Tuesday morning.

Crews from MDOT started pre-treating roads Sunday night in anticipation of two days of snow.

“This is the first real winter wallop for the southern part of the state,” Merrill said.

The Maine Turnpike Authority lowered the speed limit from the New Hampshire line to Gardiner to 45 mph due to snow. The speed limit also was reduced on I-95 north to Old Town, and on I-295.

Erin Courtney, spokeswoman for the Maine Turnpike Authority, reminded drivers to be aware of a change in how the turnpike will be plowed this winter through the Portland area, where there are four bridge projects within five miles. Because the travel lanes are narrow in the construction zones, plows will travel very close together instead of staggered by 300 to 400 feet.

“There won’t be room to pass in between the plows,” she said.

Gov. Janet Mills said state offices would open late Tuesday, but later decided they would remain closed because of “severe” weather.

Many municipal offices – including Portland City Hall – were closed Tuesday morning. Courthouses in southern and central Maine are closed for the day.

The snow and travel conditions prompted dozens of school districts, colleges and universities to close Tuesday. Superintendents in a half-dozen York County school departments announced the closures Monday night in anticipation of the storm.

A list of storm closings, delays and parking bans is available here.