A fast-moving storm that left a trail of rain and ice from Texas to the Northeast blanketed Maine with about a half-foot of snow over most of the state Thursday before changing to rain and sleet later in the day.

The storm contributed to numerous accidents, injuring some drivers, and also forced the closure of many schools throughout the state for all or part of the day.

In Columbia Falls, a head-on collision on Route 1 sent a Harrington man to the hospital Thursday afternoon.

Cpl. Rodney Merritt of the Washington County Sheriff’s Department said Guy Kissel, 43, was driving west on Route 1 about 1:30 p.m. when he lost control of his Mazda pickup on Great Hill in Columbia Falls. Witnesses said Kissel’s vehicle skidded on the slushy road and crossed into the oncoming lane.

The Mazda collided head-on with an empty seafood transport truck driven by Richard Ebbison, 42, of Pembroke, the deputy said.

Ebbison was not injured. Staff at Down East Community Hospital described Kissel as “doing well” when Merritt called to check on the man’s condition later in the day.

An 18-year-old girl was injured when her vehicle slid off a slippery road in Blue Hill on Thursday morning.

According to Deputy Jason Lepper of the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department, Jody Carter of Blue Hill was traveling north on Route 15 and lost control heading into a curve. The car skidded on the snow-covered ground, left the road, went down an embankment and flipped over at least once.

She was wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident, according to Lepper, and was able to climb out of the vehicle on her own.

Carter received cuts and bruises on her head and was taken to Blue Hill Memorial Hospital, where she was treated and released.

A 26-year-old Blue Hill man was injured when his car was hit head-on after it was forced into the oncoming lane of traffic.

Todd McDonald had stopped in the southbound lane of Route 1A in Ellsworth to make a left-hand turn when Darrell Hansen, 52, of Ellsworth approached the vehicle from behind, according to a police report. Hansen tried to avoid McDonald’s car by passing him on the right. His vehicle struck the passenger side of McDonald’s car and pushed it into the path of oncoming traffic where it was struck by a 1988 Ford driven by Patrick Gilbert, 28, of Pittsfield.

McDonald complained of neck and back pain and was taken to Maine Coast Memorial Hospital in Ellsworth for treatment.

McDonald’s 1997 Kia was totaled, according to police. Hansen’s 1988 Dodge received an estimated $2,000 in damage, while the damage to Gilbert’s Ford was estimated at $4,000.

In Belfast, an elderly Monroe woman was hospitalized with rib injuries after her car skidded into the path of a pickup truck with a snowplow rig on Swan Lake Avenue early Thursday.

Gloria Curtis, 73, of Moody Road in Monroe suffered fractured ribs when her 1995 Buick sedan skidded sideways into the plow-bearing Dodge pickup operated by Ernest Young, 36, of Belfast. Neither Young nor his passenger, Richard Snyder, 38, were injured in the wreck. Both vehicles were totaled, with damage estimated at more than $20,000, according to Police Chief Allen Weaver.

The accident occurred at 8 a.m., a time of the day when snow was falling heavily and roads were slick, said Weaver. He said Curtis’ vehicle went into a skid and twisted into the path of Young’s truck. The car’s passenger door struck the front of the truck. No charges were filed. Curtis was taken by ambulance to Waldo County General Hospital.

The speed limit was reduced to 45 mph on the Maine Turnpike and Interstate 95. State troopers throughout the state were kept busy responding to accidents during the day.

“It’s pretty slick out there. We even have troopers sliding around,” said Sue Poulin, an emergency communications specialist in Augusta.

Weather-related accidents began early in Bangor, continued throughout the day and accounted for more than half of all police calls between 8 a.m. and about 2:40 p.m.

In one early morning accident, Craig P. Laplante, 15, of Glenburn skidded and slid through the intersection of Broadway and Pushaw Road. There, his vehicle was struck by a bread truck heading north on Broadway, reported Officer Tim Cotton.

Laplante’s car spun around, striking the Interstate Bread/Nissen vehicle and then rolling into a ditch, while the truck, driven by Bruce Bretthaver, 54, of Bangor, came to rest in the southbound lane. Only minor injuries were reported.

In Old Town, officers also had their hands full with about a half dozen accidents during the day. In one accident, a motorist slid off Route 16 in the Peacove area and sideswiped a tree, before continuing another 100 to 150 feet off the road.

Officer Debbie Holmes reported that in light of the extensive damage to the 1989 Ford Escort, driver Brent Moore, 31, of Old Town was very fortunate he didn’t suffer more substantial injuries. Moore had his seatbelt on and complained only of having banged his knee inside the car, she said.

The storm hit the state at a time of extremely high tides, but there were no reports of the kind of effects seen earlier in the week.

Tuesday, the astronomically high tides combined with heavy winds to erode a portion of the causeway in Deer Isle, forcing travel delays while state Department of Transportation crews repaired the damage.

That storm surge also pushed stones onto the road at Seawall in Southwest Harbor and caused minor flooding in some coastal areas.

The snow started early Thursday morning in the southern part of the state, which had the heaviest accumulations. The National Weather Service reported as many as 8 inches of snow fell in South Casco and South Harrison before it changed to rain, and reported 6 to 7 inches in surrounding areas. .

Central Maine received 4 to 6 inches of snow, according to the National Weather Service in Caribou.

The snowfall started later in the day in northern Maine, which received 2 to 4 inches in most areas. But snow was still falling late in the afternoon and additional accumulation was expected.

The storm was unremarkable, according to Victor Nouhan, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Caribou, except for the speed with which it progressed from the south, where it formed on Tuesday.

“It came out of Texas,” Nouhan said. “The moisture came up out of the western Gulf. Usually we don’t get snow so quickly after it’s been so cold, but that moisture moved very rapidly into the Northeast.”

NEWS reporters Mary Anne Clancy, Walter Griffin, Doug Kesseli and The Associated Press contributed to this report.