Blowin’ snow delivers a workout Mainers break out plows, shovels while skiers revel

PORTLAND – An intense snowstorm that left accumulations of a foot and more over much of southern and central Maine stranded the University of Maine hockey team in Boston, caused scattered power outages and highway accidents and gave Mainers’ snowplows and snowblowers a workout.

But the new snow was pure gold to ski enthusiasts, and especially owners of cross-country ski areas.

“It’s a great Christmas surprise,” said Dixie Harris, owner of Harris Farm cross-country ski area in Dayton, where more than a foot of snow piled up. “We haven’t had a storm like this in a long time.”

Mainers broke out their snow shovels and fired up their snowblowers and plow trucks Thursday morning as the wind-driven storm moved east toward Canada, leaving blue skies and sunshine in its wake.

State police reported a few cars off the roads as commuters headed to work, but no major problems were reported on Maine’s highways. Motorists were urged to use extra caution as high winds caused drifting and presented a danger of whiteouts.

The weather service said 45-mph gusts were reported in Stonington, and the wind whipped to 35 mph in Bangor. Offshore, gusts were clocked at of 52 mph at Portland buoy and 71 mph at Mount Desert Rock.

The winds caused scattered power outages, notably in Yarmouth, including Cousins Island.

“We haven’t had a whole lot” of outages, said Central Maine Power spokeswoman Gail Rice. “What we’ve had, we’ve been able to keep up with.”

Snow accumulations of 13 inches were reported in Portland, and 14 inches in Gray. Farther north and east, Bucksport and Calais report a foot of new snow, and 10 inches were on the ground in Orono.

At Sugarloaf USA in Carrabassett Valley, meager accumulations of around 2 inches were reported. Skiers and snowboarders were advised to dress warmly to protect themselves from the effects of the wind.

But cross-country ski operators in lower areas where accumulations were heaviest were all smiles.

Harris said the snow had barely stopped before her phone started ringing. She expected a big crowd of skiers starting Thursday afternoon.

Evan McDougall of McDougall Orchards in Springvale said the fresh snow and good weather predicted for the next few days will bring most of the skiing enthusiasts this weekend to his trails.

McDougall, taking a break from grooming, said the latest storm represents a welcome departure from last year’s “miserable” snowfall. The Christmas storm left a foot on the trails in the woods, he said.

“It’s beautiful snow now,” said McDougall.

While Maine got a healthy share of snow, it got off easy compared to other parts of the Northeast, where stretches of major highways were closed, airplanes were grounded and more than 200,000 homes and businesses lost power.

The storm has been blamed for at least 23 deaths since it moved out of the Plains earlier in the week.

Dozens of municipalities declared emergencies to deal with the snow, which fell at 5 inches an hour in Albany, N.Y., during the storm’s height Wednesday.

Flights throughout the Northeast were delayed or canceled, but many airports resumed normal service Thursday. In some airports, passengers slept on cots. UM’s Black Bear ice hockey team was held up in Boston while en route to Florida for the Everblades Classic tournament in Naples.

Tens of thousands of people from Massachusetts to Pennsylvania remained without electricity, though utility officials expected to restore power by Thursday afternoon. At one point, 100,000 people in eastern Pennsylvania were without power.

Little Falls, N.Y., about 65 miles east of Syracuse, got 36 inches of snow, and nearby Cedarville, N.Y., got 34 inches. Emergency crews had to use snowmobiles to get to medical emergencies.

Woodstock, Vt., got 27 inches of snow while Goshen, Mass., about 90 miles west of Boston, had 16 inches.

The storm continued the wet fall and winter that has quickly quenched a two-year drought along the East Coast. Drought designations have been lifted in Pennsylvania and most East Coast states, although concerns remain about low water tables and aquifers in New Jersey, central Virginia and northern Maine.

“If we keep this pattern going, pretty soon those areas will be going too,” said David Miskus, a National Weather Service meteorologist. “It took a long time to build this drought. We’ve actually cut it back pretty quickly.”