Bangor residents were unsurprised and unbothered by an early April nor’easter that dumped several inches of snow across Maine Wednesday night and continued through Thursday.
As people worked to clear the wet, heavy snow from cars and driveways on Thursday, some said they’re ready for warmer weather while others didn’t mind the snow considering Maine had a mild winter with little snowfall.
Bangor saw slightly less than 20 inches of snow throughout the fall and winter, according to Bangor Public Works Director Aaron Huotari, but received 11 inches after the first day of spring.
With this week’s nor’easter forecasted to bring as much as 14 inches of snow to the region, Bangor could see more snow this spring than it saw all winter.
Across the state, the storm’s heavy snow and strong winds knocked out power for more than 300,000 households and created challenging driving conditions.
In Bangor’s Whitney Park Historic District on Thursday, Rick Bruns worked to clean at least 8 inches of snow off the vehicles in his driveway with the help of 10-year-old Zoe Purvis, the daughter of a family friend.
Though he was born and raised in Maine, Bruns spent several years in West Palm Beach, Florida, and St. Louis, Missouri, before moving to Bangor in 1986. Since then, he said he developed a newfound appreciation for the seasons and the different activities Mainers can do in each season.
Though he loves spending time outside in the winter, skiing and the ways the snow looks in the trees, Bruns said he’s ready for spring to begin in earnest so he can begin planting herbs in his garden.
“Winter gets old right about now,” Bruns said. “Everybody’s ready for the next season.”
Zoe, however, said she loves snow because she can snowboard in it.
“And this snow looks like powdered sugar,” Zoe said.
Down the street, Chuck Harrison said significant snow isn’t unusual to him, as he’s originally from Colorado Springs, Colorado. However, he still experiences “culture shock” when he sees a plow rumble down his street.
In Colorado, he said, the temperatures fluctuate so often that communities usually don’t bother to clear snow off local roads, which can make driving tricky.
“It’s nice that Bangor actually plows,” Harrison said. “Road crews don’t get enough credit for the work that they do.”
Harrison and his family moved to Bangor three years ago. He said they “picked a spot on a map where our kids could grow up and be kids.”
In the Fairmount neighborhood, Frank Dudish pushed sloppy snow from his driveway, but admitted this storm isn’t as bad as the one two weeks ago that brought both snow and sleet.
“That was the hardest I’ve ever worked to clear a driveway,” Dudish said. “This time, the road crews did a good job and everybody seemed prepared for this.”
Originally from upstate New York, Dudish moved to Maine in 2008. Though snow wasn’t new to him, he said he was impressed by how well Mainers function in it. For example, people in Maine know how to drive in winter weather and don’t let snow impact their daily routines like walking their dogs.
Storms also bring out the causal kindness of Mainers, Dudush said, as people help their neighbors shovel sidewalks and driveways. Dudish even met his best friend, who used to live across the street, from helping one another shovel their driveways.
Though it’s April, Dudish said he isn’t tired of the snow quite yet because Maine didn’t see much of it over the winter, and spring is on the way.
“We had a light winter, next week is forecasted to be warm, and the crocuses and daffodils are already coming up,” Dudish said. “Of all the hard things in life, this isn’t so bad.”