While much of the country is already bursting with spring blooms, northern Maine is blanketed in snow, sleet and ice.
On Friday morning the National Weather Service extended a winter storm warning until 5 p.m. for Aroostook County.
Up to four inches of snow fell overnight in Van Buren and even just north of Houlton, according to reports to the National Weather Service. Sleet and freezing rain continue to fall, creating hazardous driving throughout most of the region.
April snowstorms are notoriously common in the state. One of the biggest on record is the April blizzard of 1982. The storm dumped 16 inches of snow on Portland, leaving many stranded along roadways, according to the Maine Memory Network.
In April 2024, just before thousands were predicted to head to the County for the Total Solar Eclipse, a Nor’easter slammed the state dropping more than a foot of snow in many areas and leaving hundreds of thousands without power.
Early Friday morning National Weather Service meteorologists reported a mix of conditions throughout the state. As northern Maine snow continued to fall, across the central highlands to Bangor region there was freezing rain that extended east, with rain along the Down East coast and thunderstorms detected along the midcoast into Penobscot Bay.
On I-95 there have been approximately 20 crashes and/or slideoffs with only a few minor injuries, Maine Department of Public Safety spokesperson Shannon Moss said around noon.
Sleet and freezing rain will continue over the north with additional sleet accumulations up to 1 inch, and ice accumulations up to one tenth of an inch, according to NWS in Caribou.
Roads, and especially bridges and overpasses, will likely become slick and hazardous and could impact the Friday evening commute, the NWS reported.
Another mixed precipitation event is expected late Saturday night into Sunday with significant sleet and freezing rain over the highlands and northern parts of the state. Mostly rain is predicted for Down East and the Bangor region.
