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Maine Digs Out After Massive Nor'easter

December 24, 2008 - PORTLAND -- Still digging out from the weekend nor'easter? Keep the shovel and cold-weather gear handy. Forecasters expect wind gusts of up to 50 mph in parts of southern Maine this afternoon and are calling for at least two more days of snow this week. All this after a weekend nor'easter that dropped more than a foot of snow on much of southern Maine and more than three feet in one Franklin County town. Eric Schwibs from the National Weather Services says Eustis recorded nearly 42 inches of snow at what he described as "the sweet spot of the storm."

For Eustis residents, however, it wasn't so sweet.

Mark Humphries said he had to slog through deep snowdrifts to get to work at 3 a.m. at Northland general store.

"I had to push my way out the door and it was above my waist in my driveway," said Humphries, who was wet from the snow after working three hours to shovel his sidewalk.

The storm left 14.5 inches of snow on the ground in Portland this morning, surpassing the old record for the date of 12.4 inches in 1933, officials said. Residents of Sanford awoke to roughly 15 inches of snow, those in Brunswick saw 17 inches on the ground, according to the National Weather Service. The service expects more storms this week, with light snowfall Tuesday and a wintry mix of snow and rain on Wednesday. Central Maine Power crews are readying themselves for strong gusts this afternoon that could send tree limbs crashing onto power lines, said Gail Rice, spokeswoman for CMP. Rice said around 150 customers were without electricity in the Bridgton area late this morning. Both Portland and Westbrook banned parking on city streets tonight, as public works crews continue to clear neighborhood streets of snow

The parking restrictions run from 9 p.m.-6 a.m. in Westbrook and 10 p.m.-6 a.m. in Portland.

Both cities will ticket and tow cars left on public streets tonight.

City officials in Portland are asking residents with Tuesday trash pickup to wait until 6:30 a.m. tomorrow to haul their trash and recyclables to the curbside, for fear they may be buried in high snowbanks as crews clear the roads.

Elsewhere in Maine, Linda Shane said her car got stuck as she backed out of her driveway this morning, and she couldn't push her doors open because of the snow. She ended up calling for help.

"It's beautiful but it's a little crazy," said Shane, who eventually made it to her job as branch manager at Camden National Bank. "The snow is right up to the top of the vehicles."

From her bank, Shane said she couldn't see beyond the parking lot because of snow that was piled up. "You can't see the gas station across the street," she said.

Elsewhere in Maine, Island Falls and Oakfield had 23 inches of snow, Houlton had 22 inches, Waterville 18 inches, Skowhegan 16 inches, Augusta 14.5 inches and Bangor 13 inches.

At the storm's peak, the National Weather Service issued a rare blizzard warning, which remained in effect today in eastern Maine as high winds reduced visibility. Brooklin, on the Down East coast, recorded a gust of 59 mph, while much of eastern and northern Maine recorded gusts of 30 to 40 mph.

The strong winds and heavy snow knocked out electricity for about 4,600 Bangor Hydro-Electric Co. customers, most of them in Maine's Hancock County, officials said.

In New Hampshire, the snow didn't help crews working to restore electricity for the 10,700 customers who've been in the dark since an ice storm on Dec. 11-12.

The New Hampshire towns of Lost River and Hampton had 21 inches of snow, North Conway had 15.5 inches and Laconia had 14 inches. Vermont also saw heavy snow with reports of 17.5 inches in St. Johnsbury, Rochester and Randolph Center, 14 inches in Montpelier, and 7.2 inches in St. Albans.

By DAVID SHARP, The Associated Press December 22, 2008


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