Lincoln County residents may want to be prepared for possible power outages during the overnight hours of Wednesday into Thursday, according to the latest bulletin from the National Weather Service. Thousands of power outages that have occurred in the past several hours in areas south of Lincoln County may be a harbinger of things to come. Those areas are already experiencing the high winds and heavy snowfall yet to arrive in our area.
Central Maine Power is reporting over 7500 outages in the three southern Maine counties of Cumberland, York and Franklin at the time of this posting. Sagadahoc County, just south of Lincoln County is reporting over 2000 outages.
Lincoln County has 29 power outages according to the CMP 4:58 p.m. report on Wednesday. If the NWS bulletin is correct, that number is likely to increase.
“Power outages will become more widespread tonight due to the heavy weight of wet snow on the trees,” warned the NWS bulletin issued at 4:33 p.m. on Wednesday.
Wind will be another factor in the possibility of outages, with wind speeds forecast to increase steadily into the late night hours on Wednesday, according to forecasts. While wind speed at the time of this posting was calm, at approximately 4 mph from north-northeast, the forecast calls for a steady increase to the 15 to 25 mph range, with gusts up to 40 mph.
With several inches of accumulated show already weighing down tree branches and wires, additional heavy snowfall at rates of 1 to 3 inches per hour are also in the forecast for Wednesday night.
There may also be a period of sleet and the possibility of rare snow thunder in the late night hours, according to the NWS.
The Lincoln County News website will continue to follow the progress of this event and will post any additional information here as soon as it is obtained.
