December roared into Maine Wednesday with a powerful storm, blanketing much of Aroostook County with snow that made roads slippery and caused numerous minor accidents.

Black ice in southern Piscataquis County and heavy, wet snow in the Moosehead Lake region also led to several minor accidents.

High winds and heavy rain buffeted much of the state, knocking out power to thousands of homes. Bangor Hydro-Electric Co. reported outages in four counties, with most occurring in Hancock and Washington counties. An estimated 7,000 total customers were affected as of 7:30 p.m.

Wind broke a tree limb, sending it crashing onto power lines, snapping the utility pole on Hammond Street in Bangor, reported Assistant Fire Chief Vance Tripp. Both ends of the street were blocked off for about an hour as Bangor Hydro crews worked to fix the lines and pole.

The wet snow started falling at about 8 a.m. in the St. John Valley and three inches had fallen by noon. Predictions were for up to 10 inches of snow in northern Maine by the time the storm departed.

The National Weather Service office in Caribou said the winter storm advisory for Aroostook and northern Penobscot Counties was on until midnight.

By mid-afternoon in the St. John Valley, some schools and businesses were closing their doors. Most night meetings and gatherings were being canceled.

“We seem to be getting the best of it and then a snow squall comes and we get behind again,” Yves Lizotte, Madawaska Public Works supervisor said Wednesday afternoon. “We’ve had about six inches of snow so far.”

Police in Presque Isle responded to 14 incidents Wednesday where cars went off the road. They also had three other accidents, none with personal injuries.

Raynold Hebert, road supervisor for the Maine Department of Transportation in western St. John Valley, said his crews had been out since shortly after 7 a.m.

“They’ve been out all day, and I guess we will be out most of the night,” he said. “It’s slippery, wet snow, and it’s packing down.”

He said people applying brakes could not expect their vehicles to stop on the slick surfaces.

Duane Wolfe, a meteorologist with the NWS in Caribou, said the snow mixed with rain was making for bad conditions.

“Winds have been light in northern Aroostook County, but they will pick up to 20 miles per hour during the evening,” he said. “Outside Aroostook County, the winds were expected to gust to 50 mph along the coast.”

Minor accidents were reported on Route 23 in Sangerville, Elm Street in Guilford, North Guilford Road, Water Street in Guilford and another in Brownville, according to Gary Grant, dispatcher at the Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Department.

The road conditions also prompted a one-hour delay in SAD 41.

School officials in the Dover-Foxcroft area started checking the road conditions at about 5 a.m. and at that hour the roads were fine, SAD 41 Superintendent David Walker said.

Within an hour however, the rain began freezing onto the road and made for slippery conditions, he said. Although state and local road crews were sanding, Walker said he decided to wait an hour for safety reasons.

Bangor Daily News reporters Beurmond Banville, Rachel Rice, Diana Bowley and Doug Kesseli contributed to the story.