It’s a tale of two seasons this week.

Things are already heating up for Wednesday, and forecast high temperatures are going to be near or above the records across the region.

Break out the beach chairs and get ready to soak in this short spring day.

For reference, the record high temperature in Portland is 61° and was set in 1990. As of 9 a.m. Wednesday, the temperature was already at 59°.

While this warm up is welcomed for some, there are a couple of things to watch.

Ice jam flooding and/or snowmelt issues could pop up, especially across western Maine and northern New Hampshire.

Wind gusts will also pick up in the mountains when the cold front crosses.

Expect a few isolated gusts to 50 or 55 mph out of the northwest behind the front.

These will relax overnight. I do not expect much in the way of power issues, but a couple of isolated outages might pop up.

Cold air wastes no time settling in behind this front. Temperatures are going to drop off quickly and significantly.

Most towns will be in the single digits and teens by 5 a.m. Thursday. That means some spots could be 50 degrees colder in just 24 hours!

Thursday will be another transition day for Maine, with cold air establishing itself out ahead of Friday’s storm.

Snow begins around sunrise on Friday. It could be a little earlier in western Maine, a little later Downeast.

It will fall through the entire day, impacting both the morning and evening commutes. Roads will be slick and temperatures support lighter, fluffy snow.

Snow wraps up after dark on Friday, so roads should be in better shape come Saturday.

The highest totals with this storm are most likely across southern Maine, especially in York and Cumberland counties.

These areas will see 6-12″ of snow, including Fryeburg and the 302 corridor.

Central Maine and Downeast regions will likely end up with 3-6″.

The Katahdin region sees 1-3″ with only some flurries expected in the County.

Colder weather stays this weekend, but things should be a bit quieter overall. Maybe we’ve finally reached the end of the rollercoaster…for now.

At least Maine’s weather is never boring!

Follow me on Twitter for other forecast info, @MikeSliferWX.

 

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The Maine Forecast: Weather records crumbled on Wednesday, snow is back for Friday