Aroostook County hit with snow, high winds

CARIBOU – Up to 4 inches of snow fell Tuesday on parts of Aroostook County.

Snowfall ranged from a trace in the Houlton area – which was hit with mostly sleet for much of the morning – to as much as 4 inches of snow in Allagash.

Madawaska and Fort Kent each recorded 3 inches, while 2.7 inches fell at the airport in Caribou, according to Kirk Apffel, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service Forecasting Center in Caribou.

High winds also were recorded in parts of Washington and Aroostook counties. Winds gusted to 55 mph Tuesday morning at West Quoddy Head in Lubec and 54 mph at Eastport. A gust of 48 mph was recorded at Frenchville, Apffel said.

The snow and sleet made roads slippery and dozens of cars went off area roads.

Between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m., state police responded to 36 calls, according to a dispatcher at Maine State Police Troop F in Houlton. Most were just for cars off the road, although eight resulted in minor personal injuries.

A tractor-trailer loaded with lumber went off Route 11 in Masardis, about two miles south of the village.

Robert King, 55, of Haynesville was headed south at about 10:15 a.m. with a load from the J. Paul Levesque & Sons mill in Masardis. He lost control of his tractor-trailer on the slush-covered road as he went around a corner, according to Deputy Mike Monpetite of the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Department.

The truck went down an embankment and struck a built-up section of soil near a driveway culvert. The truck became airborne for about 30 feet and the load of lumber spilled into the ditch.

King suffered a laceration to his head, Monpetite said, but the truck, a 1991 Peterbilt, was demolished.