Coastal regions hit with snow

ELLSWORTH – The first coastal storm of the season Saturday dumped as much as 5 inches of snow on sections of Down East Maine.

The wet snow caused problems for some motorists, and there were reports of numerous accidents throughout Washington and Hancock counties. Although some accident victims required medical treatment, authorities said there were few injuries that resulted from the storm.

In Bar Harbor, a vehicle struck a telephone pole Saturday, knocking out power briefly to a small section of the town. The pole was scheduled to be replaced Sunday.

No other outages were reported as a result of the storm.

Officials in Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor closed most of the roads in the park Saturday. Crews were in the process of reopening the winter travel roads Sunday afternoon. Some roads normally remain closed throughout the winter.

The storm bypassed most of the state, dropping snow on coastal areas mainly east of the Penobscot River.

The highest accumulations were reported in Washington County, according to Tom Duda, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Caribou.

“The main portion of the storm passed east of Maine,” Duda said. “There was a sharp cutoff on the back edge of the storm.”

That kept most of the snow in southern and western Washington County and along the coast in Hancock County, he said.

Whiting received 5.5 inches of snow; Cherryfield, 5 inches; Columbia Falls, 4.5 inches; and East Machias, 4 inches.

In Hancock County, accumulations were between 1 and 2 inches.

The forecast for the coming week calls for generally dry weather, Duda said Sunday. There are no big storms tracking toward Maine during that time, he said.

The long-term forecast for the next three months predicts normal precipitation and temperatures throughout northern New England, including Maine, Duda said.