A messy storm will arrive in Maine Friday night and continue through Monday, bringing snow, sleet and freezing rain, and making for difficult travel and the potential for power outages.
While a major ice storm is not expected, some areas may see ice levels that bring the risk of at least scattered outages.
After a nice Friday with temperatures near 50, the winter storm will get going after midnight early Saturday morning.
Saturday
The storm will initially bring only snow, but the precipitation will change to sleet or a wintry mix as the day progresses, moving from north to south.
The highest totals of snow or sleet will be in western Maine where up to 8 inches may fall.
Most will see 2-5″ snow and sleet, with lesser amounts of 1-3″ from the Portland area south where we see more sleet than snow.
Sunday
Round two of the winter storm will move through Maine on Sunday, bringing mostly freezing rain or sleet, with a gradual change to rain expected along the coast.
The highest ice totals, and therefore highest power outage potential, will be in western Maine and into New Hampshire.
Heavy ice on top of snow could bring down branches and powerlines, at least for scattered areas.
Monday
In most areas the precipitation will have turned over to rain Monday morning, but inland could see icing persist through the morning hours of Monday.
The weather will dry out by Monday afternoon, and some areas in southern Maine may hit 60 degrees. A final round of rain is expected to move through Monday night, with the storm finally ending in the predawn hours of Tuesday.
Quieter weather will return Tuesday and Wednesday with cooler temperatures, in the 30s or low 40s.
Another storm is expected on Thursday, but it is likely to be mostly rain.
