The nor’easter presently moving out of Lincoln County brought more intense snowfall than originally forecast, and is now delivering higher wind gusts, 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 is that the storm path appears 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 are forecast to increase to 40 mph as night falls, according to the NWS, with broadcast reports indicating over 1500 power outages in Lincoln County. At the time of this posting, there are numerous outages reported in the Bristol and Westport areas as well as scattered and individual outages in Boothbay, South Bristol and Waldoboro, according to Central Maine Power (CMP).
The Lincoln County News website will continue to follow the progress of this event and post any additional information here as soon as it becomes available.
