Snow arriving overnight Tuesday is predicted to fall throughout the day Wednesday, amounting to about half of a foot in parts of southern Maine.
The storm will hit the coastline hardest, and lose strength as it moves south to north, dropping lesser amounts of snow as it heads toward Canada, according to the National Weather Service.
Across the southern third of the state, snow is expected to start before daybreak Wednesday, and fall steadily until the late afternoon and early evening.
But for the most part, “it’s not really an intense storm, [and] it’s not going to be really windy,” said Tony Mignon, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Caribou.
Here’s the low and high end of snowfall predictions for the northern part of the state, as of Monday night, according to the NWS’ Caribou office:
Here are the “low end” and “high end” snowfall forecasts for the snow Tue night into Wed evening. #mewx https://t.co/aazl5nwASK pic.twitter.com/IsoG2C6gTQ
— NWS Caribou (@NWSCaribou) January 15, 2018
Meanwhile, here’s what’s on tap for the southern part of the state, according the NWS’ Gray office:
Next round of snow starts Tuesday evening, with more than 6 inches possible in southwest Maine and southern New Hampshire. #mewx #nhwx pic.twitter.com/IyfWWJAbDJ
— NWS Gray (@NWSGray) January 15, 2018
From Kittery to Lubec, the entire coastline is predicted to see between 4 and 6 inches, forecasters said. Along the immediate coast, temperatures could creep just above freezing, and the snow could mix with rain and accumulate to only about 3 inches, Mignon said.
Greater Bangor is expected to get between 2 and 7 inches, the same predicted in Augusta and Lewiston-Auburn. Temperatures will range from the low- to mid-20s, according to Mignon.
North of those cities, amounts will gradually taper, forecasters said. Lincoln is expected to get about 2 to 3 inches, and about an inch is predicted along the Houlton line. In the far north, Aroostook County could see less than an inch of snow, if any at all, Mignon said.
Precipitation will make the roads slick, and forecasters warned drivers to slow down behind the wheel Wednesday.
Ahead of the snowfall, sunny skies on Tuesday will turn cloudy as night falls, and mild winds will blow Wednesday in the 5 to 10 mph range, Mignon said. Temperatures Wednesday will average in the low-20s in Greater Bangor.
Looking at the radar, no major precipitation is predicted for the days following Wednesday’s snowfall.
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