While southern Mainers enjoyed a springlike Easter Sunday that brought sunny skies and temperatures touching the 60s, weather forecasters gloomily warned that winter would soon return in the form of a nor’easter that could leave parts of the state under a foot of snow.

The storm brewing over the mid-Atlantic states Sunday threatened to give Maine its biggest snowstorm in more than a year, the National Weather Service stated Sunday.

Precipitation was expected to start as rain, and possibly snow, Sunday night, but turn into all snow by Monday evening after temperatures drop to the 20s or 30s and the storm stalls off the coast.

“It’s still too soon to give specific amounts,” the weather service stated Sunday. “But it looks like it may be easier to talk in terms of a foot or more rather than mere inches.”

Traveling conditions are also expected to deteriorate as Monday goes on. Tuesday and Wednesday don’t look much better, with snow expected in the mountains and northern Maine and rain and snow showers in the rest of the state.

Sunday’s pleasant weather gave Mainers a chance to catch their breath after a night of violent storms raked across the southern part of the state.

In Gray, a lightning bolt zapped the state police communication center Saturday evening, causing all of its telephone, radio and teletype equipment to crash.

During the two hours state police lines were down, callers were asked to contact local and county police instead.

Lightning was also to blame for a fire that destroyed a house in Gray and damaged another in Windham. A church in Gorham was also struck by lightning. No injuries were reported in any of the incidents.