Once more unto the breach, dear friends. And by breach we mean snow and rain and slush and every form of late-winter slop imaginable.

In Lewiston, it started off as rain and stayed that way through the lunch hour. By 2 p.m., as promised, the rain turned into wet snow that quickly covered the streets. Throughout the day, the wintry mix came in many forms and the results were predictable: cars off the roads, meetings canceled, feet wet.

Crashes were reported just about everywhere as cars, trucks and minivans slid through intersections or into utility poles and snowbanks.

Power crews, anticipating heavy snow ripping down lines, were out in full force. They had been preparing for this latest onslaught of winter since the start of the week.

By nightfall, the numbers were not too bad for Central Maine Power. Fewer than 3,000 homes and businesses were without power and just about all were in Waldo County. An estimated 245 outages were reported in Oxford County, while Franklin County had one.

Predictions that a foot of snow would fall were later amended to portend half that amount. By the end of the workday, it still remained to be seen how much new snow the area would get. National Weather Service meteorologists were waiting for the final tally so they could adjust their seasonal stats.

By the start of the day Wednesday, 73 inches had already fallen across the region since December, a full 17 inches above average. More than 33 inches accumulated in February, according to the National Weather Service, making it the snowiest month of the season.

By 5 p.m. the Lewiston area had a little more than 3 inches of slushy snow. Bridgton reported more than 6 inches. Most of Franklin County was looking at just under 3 inches, an amount that seemed reasonable for a storm that had been predicted to drop up to 2 feet on some parts of New England.

The Sugarloaf Mountain ski resort website’s welcome message celebrated the call for heavy snowfall. “As much as we love spring skiing and all that goes with it, we’d never say no to more snow. We say, ‘bring it on, Mother Nature!'”

In the Twin Cities, steady rain was falling Wednesday night. With the storm expected to grind on through the night, it was anybody’s guess what Thursday morning would look like.

Copy the Story Link