As temperatures plummeted into the single digits Tuesday evening, hundreds of Lincoln County residents were still without power for the second full night in a row, and may be waiting through another night without electricity according to Central Maine Power (CMP).
Some progress was made by CMP crews on Tuesday, restoring power to many of the hardest hit areas of Lincoln County. Roads without power in the Bristol area were reduced from 40 to 13; in Damariscotta from 25 to 14; in Jefferson from 32 to 22; and in Westport Island from 29 to 12, according to the CMP website. (Numbers reflect the difference from Monday to Tuesday at 9:47 p.m., and according to CMP website figures.)
However, 212 Lincoln County roads remained without power on Tuesday night, according to the CMP. While CMP president Sara Burns has set a goal to have all power restored by Thursday evening, that objective will have little meaning for those residents still in the dark for a third night on Weds.
Shelters that provided a place to get warm, hot showers, and drinking water were again open during the day on Tuesday in Wiscasset and Damariscotta. An overnight shelter also opened on Tuesday night at the Wiscasset Emergency Services Building, according to the Lincoln County Emergency Management Agency (LCEMA). Pets may be taken to the Lincoln County Animal Shelter for temporary safety.
Local emergency services have not yet determined if a shelter will be needed for Wednesday night. Low temperatures in Lincoln County on Wednesday night are forecast in the upper teens or low 20’s, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
On Monday morning Lincoln County residents woke up to a heavy blanket of wet snowfall and widespread power outages after an overnight storm.
High winds and additional snowfall in some areas continued through Monday, causing additional power lines to fail as the day progressed.
Over 130,000 power outages were reported state-wide. Gov. John Baldacci declared a state of emergency, and power crews from surrounding states began arriving to assist CMP in restoring electricity.
The leading edge of the storm moved into Lincoln County just after nightfall on Sunday, bringing rainfall that developed into an icy mix and then into snowfall. The most intense snowfall occurred in the early morning hours on Monday, falling at up to two inches per hour and creating whiteout conditions in some areas, according to the NWS.
The heavy snowfall tapered off by sunrise on Monday, but snow showers and high winds continued through the day.
The storm revolved around a low front that tracked up the coast and intensified, following the shoreline almost exactly, according to forecasters. An intellicast.com forecast map for 1 a.m. on Monday showed Lincoln County right in the center of the low front as it moved north-northeast.
Snowfall totals for Lincoln County areas were in the double digits, with NWS observer Arlene Cole reporting 11 inches in Newcastle (in spite of power loss in her own home); and a channel 13 weather watcher in Westport Island reporting 10 inches of accumulation.
Area schools were closed due to the snowfall on Monday, as were some local businesses.
Aside from the power outages, no major incidents were reported as a result of the storm.
