Lincoln County residents woke up to a heavy blanket of wet snowfall and widespread power outages Mon. morning after an overnight storm.
High winds and additional snowfall in some areas continued through Mon., causing additional power lines to fail as the day progressed.
By nightfall on Mon., 17 Lincoln County towns still had areas with power outages. The hardest hit was Bristol, with power out on 40 roads, according to Central Maine Power (CMP). Dresden, Jefferson, Newcastle, Nobleboro and Wiscasset followed, with over 30 roads in each town affected by power outages, according to CMP.
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.
With overnight low temps forecast in the 18-degree range, short-term warming shelters were established at the Boothbay Fire Dept., the Bremen Fire Dept., the CLC YMCA in Damariscotta and the Wiscasset Fire Dept. These warming shelters offered a place to shake off the cold, take a hot shower and pick-up fresh water (for those with electric well pumps). The warming centers closed by 8 p.m.
For those needing a place to stay overnight, a shelter has been established at the Wiscasset Community Center, where hot meals are also available. Pets may be taken to this shelter, but should be in pet crates.
Pets may also be taken to the Lincoln County Animal Shelter for temporary safety.
The leading edge of the storm moved into Lincoln County just after nightfall on Sun., bringing rainfall that developed into an icy mix and then into snowfall. The most intense snowfall occurred in the early morning hours on Mon., falling at up to 2 inches per hour and creating whiteout conditions in some areas, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
The heavy snowfall tapered off by sunrise on Mon., 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 Mon. 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, as were some local businesses.
Aside from the power outages, no major incidents were reported as a result of the storm.