A heavy, slushy snowstorm swept into southern Maine on Saturday morning, causing power outages for a time and turning streets and sidewalks into a pulpy mess.
By Saturday night, the nor’easter had dropped 12.7 inches of snow in Gray and Bridgton, 11.7 inches in Cumberland Center, 13.4 inches in Steep Falls, 10 inches in Bethel, and 10.8 inches at the Portland International Jetport, according to the National Weather Service. In Androscoggin County, Turner got 10 inches; Mechanic Falls, 8; and Lisbon Falls, 7.
Elsewhere, Thomaston and Hope in Knox County got just 3 inches each, and northern parts of Maine had 2 inches or less.
The storm had knocked out power for 12,347 Central Maine Power customers as of 8 a.m. Saturday. York County was hit hardest, with 6,723 outages. But by Saturday afternoon, the number of CMP outages was down to 1,287, most of them in Cumberland and York counties, and by 7:50 p.m. there were none.
Mainers grumbled about the weather but also took the spring snowstorm in stride.
At Red’s Dairy Freeze in South Portland – whose opening for the season in March is a sign of spring for residents – manager Nancy Frizzle said she couldn’t remember another March, and now one day into April, so cold and snowy. Red’s closed for the March 14 blizzard, the only time she can remember its closing once it opened for the season.
“We had to open, because we couldn’t close a second day,” she said Saturday. “It was a slow start, but as soon as we got our driveway plowed, people were coming out. All we heard all day was how cold it was out and that they couldn’t believe we were open today.”
The National Weather Service in Gray canceled its winter storm advisory early Saturday evening. Meteorologists said on the weather service’s website that only flurries were expected Saturday night and into early Sunday morning, when the snow was expected to stop.
During Saturday’s storm, the speed limit on parts of the Maine Turnpike was lowered to 45 mph, and that limit was still in effect Saturday night for the entire length of the turnpike – from Kittery to Augusta. There were several motor vehicle accidents, but none appeared to be serious.
The Portland jetport was open for business Saturday with only one or two flight cancellations.
Sunday should be partly sunny with highs in the 40s. There is another chance of precipitation, most likely rain, Tuesday into Wednesday, the weather service said.
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