Kennebec and Somerset counties appeared to have been spared by Saturday’s storm, with police and fire officials reporting no flooding or serious vehicle crashes.

In West Gardiner, closer to the capital city of Augusta, however, at least one dramatic incident occurred just before 10 a.m. Saturday when slushy weather caused a Honda Element to skid off the road and roll over.

The single occupant was not injured, but the Element spun out in a ditch and went down on the side of the road before rolling over in the area of 900 High St., according to West Gardiner fire Chief Mike Gross.

For the rest of the day, any remaining snow in the Augusta area was expected to turn to rain and the rain was expected to simmer down around evening, according to meteorologist John Palmer at the National Weather Service in Gray.

The city was expected to get around 1 1/2 inches of rain by the end of the day Saturday.  

Palmer said he did not anticipate any flooding inland — the brunt of the flooding in central Maine would be around the coastline from Wiscasset to Rockland, which already experienced detrimental damage from Wednesday’s storm.

The flooding comes from the high winds — which along the coast were expected to reach 60 mph — mixed with the high tide levels in the ocean, rather than the amount of rain. Augusta was expected to get winds up to 40 mph.

“You will probably see water where you have never seen it before,” said Palmer.  

However, the Kennebec River is not expected to flood, he said. The river reached historic levels from the storm in mid-December that businesses along the river are still recovering from.

In the Waterville area in northern Kennebec County, as well as to the north in Somerset, snow began falling around 7 a.m. and two hours later, precipitation had turned to rain, according to emergency officials. Flooding was not a concern in either Skowhegan or Waterville at that time, and no wind gusts were reported.

“The snow only lasted a couple of hours and we probably got 2 1/2 inches and it turned to sleet,” Skowhegan fire Capt. Ty Strout said just before 1 p.m.

Waterville police reported no storm-related issues as of early afternoon and a dispatcher at Somerset Regional Communications Center said a few minor accidents had occurred, including vehicles sliding off roads, but injuries were minor. A Waterville Fire Department official reported no issues.

“The system is about on its way out as far as snowfall goes,” said Maura Casey, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray.

Casey said just after 1 p.m. Saturday that Farmington, in Franklin County to the west, still was experiencing mixed precipitation and temperatures were below freezing, but Kennebec County was done with snowfall for the day.

Somerset was expected to get a total of 1 to 2 inches. South China had received 2 inches of snow and generally, 1 to 2 inches had fallen in Kennebec County based on reports received to that point, according to Casey.

“Up in Somerset County as of this morning, we only had about a half-inch around New Portland,” she said. “I do expect that number has grown quite a bit.”

Four inches were expected in higher terrain, and the U.S. Route 201 corridor and especially higher areas such as Route 16 and north were expected to get 6 to 7 inches, she said.

Around midday, Kennebec County had received 1 1/2 to 3 inches of rain. It was about 40 degrees in Augusta and areas south of that city, and about 36 degrees in Waterville, according to Casey.

“Overnight should remain dry,” she said. “We have lows in the mid-20s, so however sloppy it is right now, it will probably freeze overnight. Tomorrow it should be partly sunny, but the thing to be very cognizant of tomorrow is the potential for snow squalls.”

She said snow squalls are short bursts of heavy snowfall of 1/2 to 1 inch, accompanied by a quick drop in temperature and lowered visibility, which can impact travel.

Copy the Story Link

« Previous

Vassalboro select board considers closing marijuana-growing ‘loophole’

Next »

In North Haven, residents battle to save the boatyard at the center of almost everything