Nor’easter dumping up to a foot of fresh snow across Maine

A nor’easter that rolled into Maine overnight brought the first significant snowfall of the year to much of the state Tuesday morning.

The National Weather Service has placed the entire state under a winter storm warning until late Tuesday night along the coast and Wednesday morning inland.

Tuesday’s fresh powder was accompanied by gusty winds that could reach up to 35 mph inland near Bangor and 45 mph along the coast, as well as sleet and a wintry mix. The weather service warned that blowing snow could make travel “extremely dangerous” for those Mainers who still have to commute. The Maine Emergency Management Agency advised Mainers to avoid traveling if at all possible.

Snow will spread into the Downeast region around midnight tonight and reach the north around mid-morning Tuesday. Snow and blowing snow will make travel very difficult Downeast Tuesday morning and over the north Tuesday afternoon. #mewx pic.twitter.com/Ip4iSV2gky

— NWS Caribou (@NWSCaribou) February 1, 2021

By 5 a.m., the storm had already coated Bangor-area roads with an inch or more of powder, with winds here and there kicking up the snow. Snow was falling lightly, but a band of heavy snow moving north could bring as much as 1 to 2 inches an hour with it, according to meteorologists with CBS affiliate WGME.

Bangor is forecast to get up to 10 inches of snow by the storm’s end. Closer to the coast, Bar Harbor is expected to get up to 8 inches, Machias 9 inches and Eastport 8 inches, according to the weather service’s Caribou office.

Snowfall could get heavier toward the Canadian border, with as much as 15 inches in the forecast. Across a wide swath of land from Presque Isle to Fort Kent, the weather service is predicting up to 12 inches of snow to fall throughout the day.

Expected snowfall with this upcoming storm and expected onset time. pic.twitter.com/nnGjAhWvm2

— NWS Gray (@NWSGray) February 1, 2021

Elsewhere in the state, Portland is forecast to get up to 10 inches of snow, 8 inches in Wiscasset, 7 inches in Rockland and 8 inches in Belfast, according to the weather service’s Gray office. That accumulation will be heavier in the western mountains, with 11 inches forecast from Rangeley to Jackman.

That storm, which has been moving east since blasting the Midwest over the weekend, interrupted COVID-19 vaccine clinics across the state, with MaineHealth, the state’s largest health care network, canceling scheduled vaccinations for Tuesday.

Northern Light Health, which is opening a vaccine clinic at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor on Tuesday, however, said it planned to open despite the storm, but will reschedule appointments for those who cannot safely travel to the clinic.

Here are some photos from this morning: