The nor’easter that chugged through Lincoln County on Wednesday brought more intense snowfall than originally forecast, and continued to deliver high wind gusts into the night, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
A revised Winter Storm Warning issued by the NWS on Wednesday morning called for snowfall rates of 2-3 inches per hour, up from the 1-2 inches originally forecast.
Another factor was that the storm path appeared to have altered, changing the duration of intense snowfall. The original forecast called for several hours of intense snowfall in the morning hours. Instead, high intensity snowfall began in the morning hours and continued through the early afternoon.
All of that made for tough travel as snowplows tried to keep up with snowfall accumulation. During the height of the intense snowfall at about mid-day, the Lincoln County Emergency Management Agency (LCEMA) recommended that residents stay off the roads until the heaviest snowfall passed. Firefighters from several area departments were challenged by snow-covered roads as they worked to extinguish structure fires in Jefferson and Somerville.
Wind gusts increased to 40 mph as night fell, as did reports of power outages — with broadcast reports indicating over 1500 outages in Lincoln County. At approximately 5:30 p.m. there are numerous outages reported in the Bristol and Westport Island areas as well as scattered and individual outages in Boothbay, South Bristol and Waldoboro, according to Central Maine Power (CMP). By 11:45 p.m. most of those outages were restored, according to CMP.
The storm is forecast to move out during the overnight hours, followed by a partly cloudy morning on Thursday… With the possibility of sunshine by Thursday afternoon!
