AUGUSTA (AP) — Strong winds blew newly fallen snow in Maine on Friday, making roads slick, shuttering some schools and businesses, and leaving much of the state in a deep freeze. And it’s just going to get colder.
Maine was spared from the brunt of the storm that dumped up to a foot of snow in the Midwest before moving east, but residents suffered from subzero temperatures with wind chills registering 35 degrees below zero in some places and little relief in sight.
Temperatures could reach 30 degrees below or colder in some western Maine valleys Friday night, while central and southern Maine will see readings dip to between minus-10 and minus-15 before gradually warming up by Saturday afternoon into the 20s, Chris Legro, National Weather Service meteorologist said.
“That’s going to feel like a significant change for a lot of people out there,” he said.
David Wheelock searched for his keys after he dropped them in the snow outside his son’s copy and printing shop in Hallowell, where it dipped to minus-8 degrees Friday morning.
The 73-year-old lifelong Maine resident has lived through his fair share of brutal winters and wasn’t too fazed by the bitter cold, he said. But it can get dangerous quickly if people aren’t prepared for the worst with backup heat sources at home, jumper cables, extra clothes in the car and other winter gear, he said.
“I don’t always rely on someone else to come bail me out,” he said.
Snow quickly moved out of Maine on Friday afternoon, and total accumulations fell short of what forecasters predicted, especially in the north, Legro said. Six to 10 inches fell in southern Maine, including Portland, causing some businesses and schools to close their doors Friday.
But the light, dry snow meant that even low wind speeds produced significant drifting. Slick tracks may have caused a freight-train to derail at a crossing in Saco, snarling traffic but causing no injuries, police said. The Portland Press Herald reported the engine was pulling only one car.
Gusty winds prompted worries about power outages, where some residents just recently got their power back after an ice storm brought down trees and power lines nearly two weeks ago. But utility companies reported only roughly 100 outages Friday afternoon.
The vehicle rollover at mile 26 southbound in Kennebunk. Please slow speeds for yours safety and that of others. pic.twitter.com/UqGnk5fKau
— Maine Turnpike (@MaineTurnpike) January 3, 2014
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- Motorists creep along a snow-covered Turner Street in Auburn on Friday.
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- “Rain or shine, she needs to go out,” Jonnie Maloney said as she walked her dog, Luna, along Main Street in Auburn on Friday.
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- A light shines through a frosted window at Orphan Annie’s Antiques on Court Street in Auburn on Friday.
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- “Stay out of the hot sun,” advised Norman Lavoie while he helped clear neighbors’ cars of snow at the Auburn Esplanade apartments on Friday.
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- Motorists creep along a snow-covered Turner Street in Auburn on Friday.
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- With the temperature a frightful 3 degrees Fahrenheit, Drue Ford shovels snow wearing a face mask to guard against frostbite Friday in Brunswick.
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- With the temperature hovering around zero degrees Fahrenheit, John Faulkner checks on the frosty windows of his eclectic home furnishing store, Nest, on Friday in Brunswick. “We haven’t seen frost like this before,” Faulkner said. “It’s like living in a refrigerator.”
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- Frost covers the windows at the Morning Glory natural food store in Brunswick where a customer wearing a face mask braves zero-degree Fahrenheit temperatures to shop Friday.
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