By Greg Latimer
Falling and blowing snow obscure the tree line across a field on Goshen Road in Waldoboro Jan. 27. (D. Lobkowicz photo) |
A strong nor’easter that brought blizzard conditions to Lincoln County through most of Tuesday, Jan. 27 left little damage behind, aside from large amounts of drifted snowfall
for residents to dig out of.
Reports indicate that traffic on Lincoln County roadways was light during the storm, indicating residents were willing to shelter in place and restrict their travel.
Schools, public buildings and many businesses were closed due to the storm, which reduced the need for travel.
Keeping motorists off the roads had two beneficial effects during the storm; it kept people safe at home and allowed emergency crews and snowplow drivers to
accomplish their tasks.
Central Maine Power Company restored power to over 1500 Lincoln County households within a matter of hours on Tuesday afternoon. A total of 1545 outages were
reported in Lincoln County according to the 1:43 p.m. update from CMP. The 3:58 p.m. update showed that all outages in Lincoln County had been restored, and no additional
outages occurred during the storm (by press time).
A Whitefield home was destroyed by fire Tuesday afternoon, but the cause of that fire, and if the blizzard was part of the cause, were still undetermined as of press
time for this article. There were no injuries reported from the fire scene.
The storm moved in during the early morning hours of Tuesday and intensified through the morning and mid-day hours with estimated snowfall rates in excess of one
inch per hour, and northerly winds at sustained speeds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts to 50 mph.
Snowfall totals for the event were hard to measure accurately because of the wind, but the NWS estimates that there was between 15 to 30 inches of accumulation in
Lincoln County, depending on the location. Because of high winds, coastal areas possibly saw more accumulated snowfall than areas in the highlands.
Snowfall began to subside in the evening hours of Tuesday for Lincoln County, but a Blizzard Warning issued by the National Weather Service remained in effect until
9:49 p.m. on Tuesday, replaced by a Winter Storm Warning until 4 a.m. Wednesday morning.
High winds continued to buffet Lincoln County, along with scattered snowfall, into the night on Tuesday, but no further incidents were reported as of press time.
Most forecasters agree that an unsettled period of weather should be expected in Lincoln County over the next several weeks, starting with a possible disturbance
beginning on Friday, Jan. 30 and another developing on Monday, Feb. 2.
