A wintry mix — including snow, sleet and freezing rain — fell Tuesday across central Maine, as a midwinter storm created messy travel conditions in much of the state.
Geoff Houghton shovels the sidewalk in front of his two restaurants Tuesday on Water Street in Hallowell. Houghton compared shoveling the snow, sleet and freezing rain to pushing wet sand. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal Buy this Photo
“We really didn’t get too much in the way of snow in (central Maine),” said meteorologist Michael Cempa of the National Weather Service. “We kind of got a little bit of everything with this storm: Snow in some places, some sleet and some freezing rain.”
Precipitation began at about 4 a.m. and ended between noon and 1 p.m. Forecasters initially thought there would be more snow and less sleet and freezing rain.
Snow accumulation in the area ranged from half an inch to 2 inches, according to reports, while some areas also received maybe an inch of ice chips and freezing rain.
“We’re done, at least for this storm,” Cempa said. “We’re going to have another one coming late Thursday and into Thursday night. It’s looking a little colder, so that may all fall as snow.”
The city of Waterville is continuing its parking ban in The Concourse from midnight through 6 a.m.
There is also a parking ban all winter in Augusta, from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., although it is not always enforced, according to Leslie Jones, the city’s director of Public Works.
“It was all just sleet,” Jones said Tuesday afternoon, “and now it’s warmed up, so the temperatures are starting to help melt things.”
The storm arrived in Maine as much of the South and Midwest were seeing unusually cold or frigid temperatures and harsh winter weather.
Millions in Texas lost power as frigid temperatures and winter weather hit the Lone Star State. The winter weather sprouted a possible tornado that killed three and injured 10 in North Carolina. Storm warnings spread across the Mid-Atlantic states and into parts of the Northeast.
A winter storm warning covering parts of Maine, including much of Somerset County, was canceled early Tuesday afternoon. Southern and central Maine were under a winter weather advisory that also ended early in the afternoon Tuesday.
The state closed all of its offices and legislative buildings Tuesday. And from 2:45 a.m. to 2:15 p.m., the Maine Turnpike Authority reduced speeds to 45 mph on the turnpike.
A dispatcher at the Waterville Regional Communications Center said there were few calls Tuesday related to travel conditions.
Central Maine Power Co., which serves most of central Maine, reported no power outages in Kennebec, Somerset or Waldo counties Tuesday afternoon.
Versant Power, which serves much of northern and eastern Maine, also reported no outages.
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