It’s been a remarkably quiet and warm fall, but luck would have it the first widespread snow event is coming for Thanksgiving Day.

Weather is quiet for traveling Wednesday, not only here in New England but up and down the eastern seaboard.

A weak low will strengthen as it ejects out of the Ohio Valley and enters the northeast, traveling over the southern New England coastline and then through the Gulf of Maine on Thursday. This is almost the perfect track for our first accumulating snow of the season and enough to get plows out on the holiday, especially away from the coastline.

The rain/snow line in early season storms can be notoriously fickle, so some places that begin as rain will see a flip to wet snow as the storm strengthens and the atmosphere cools.

News Center Maine

Thanksgiving morning will begin dry statewide. Light showers begin developing in southern Maine during the mid-to-late morning. Steadier precipitation overspreads the state during the afternoon. Near and along the coastline, this will begin as rain. In the foothills and mountains, it will begin as wet snow. In between, there may be rain or a mix of rain and snow for a time, before snow takes over during the late afternoon and evening. It’s possible the rain/snow line crashes to the coast after sunset Thursday, bringing some accumulation even into Portland.

News Center Maine

The height of the storm will be roughly from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Snow may fall at the rate of an inch per hour, just inland, and roads may become a slippery mess.

Additionally, the snow will be wet and heavy, and could weigh down tree limbs and power lines. We have to at least entertain the idea of some outages Thursday night in places that see more than 5 or 6 inches of snow.

News Center Maine

Our first call for snowfall suggests a widespread three to six inches of snow inland. Some places may see more than six inches, which we will hone in on Wednesday. Please check in with NEWS CENTER Maine for updates. If this map were to be adjusted, totals could go up some, particularly in the light blue zone. Closer to the coast, there will be less accumulation, depending on a change from rain to wet snow Thursday evening.

The storm pulls away quickly on Friday, and the beginning of December will be cold with below average temperatures for a change.