Snow will bring a slick morning commute to Maine on Thursday, with very cold and blustery conditions expected to end the week.
Wednesday will start out cold and sunny, with cloudy skies by the afternoon. Highs will be in the low to mid-30s.
A storm system then arrives Wednesday evening and ramps up later in the night.
Timing
Precipitation will be scattered and light before midnight, becoming widespread and heavy at times afterward. It will likely start as rain within about 30 miles of the coast, switching to a period of snow during the morning commute time frame.
Snow will come down quickly making for slick conditions. Snow or rain wraps up later Thursday morning, heaviest precipitation will likely be 12-9 a.m. Thursday.
Totals
Coastal areas through about 30 miles inland see the least with a coating to an inch or two, though this comes during the morning commute in a quick timeframe with slick travel expected.
Areas away from the coast get a general 2 to 4 inches, higher totals are likely north of Augusta and into the mountains with 3 to 6 inches, highest totals will be toward northern and eastern Maine and in the highest elevations with 5 to 9 inches.
Cold air descends
Frigid air then moves in for Friday, with highs only in the 20s. Wind chills will remain below 10 degrees for most all day, and some will see wind chills below zero.
It will be very windy with gusts over 40 mph possible. There will likely be areas of blowing snow and there could even be a few scattered outages.
Saturday looks quieter with a mix of sun and clouds and chilly temperatures in the 20s or low 30s.
Another round of light snow is possible Sunday with another clipper system, though any accumulation would likely be very light.
Milder temperatures look to move in next week, with a storm system likely to bring several waves of precipitation Monday to Wednesday. Both wintry weather and rain are on the table with this. So stay tuned.
