Strong winds knock out power across Maine

BANGOR – A storm that brought heavy rain and severe winds to Maine late Thursday and early Friday caused widespread power outages affecting tens of thousands of Mainers.

The warm, wet weather created a potential for flooding and ice jams in several Maine counties, according to the National Weather Service.

Though temperatures dipped below freezing Friday, the rains washed away much of the snow that covered the ground, casting doubt on the chances of a white Christmas for all but the mountains and the northernmost parts of the state.

There’s a chance of light snow Christmas Day and Sunday, said the National Climatic Data Center, which charts probabilities that at least an inch of snow will be on the ground on Christmas morning.

In Augusta, the probability was 90 percent, while Portland rated 83 percent and Brunswick 80 percent. The chances improved farther north, to 97 percent in Caribou and 96 percent in Houlton.

Snow was more than a possibility in other parts of the country, notably the Midwest, where it snarled traffic and caused delays and cancellations of air flights that affected passengers at Maine airports.

Officials advised travelers to call ahead to make sure their flights were still scheduled.

Meteorologist Sonia Mark Fletchner of the National Weather Service in Caribou reported wind speeds in excess of 50 mph late Thursday and early Friday in several locations, with some of the highest winds in Franklin, which had 56 mph gusts.

In Bangor, wind speeds reached 54 mph just after 9:30 p.m. Thursday, Fletchner said. Wind speeds for other Maine communities included: Cutler, 51 mph; Jonesport, 43 mph; Stonington, 52 mph; Brooklin, 48 mph; Houlton, 44 mph; Frenchville, 41 mph; Caribou, 37 mph; Millinocket, 39 mph; and Greenville, 38 mph. As high as those may have been, however, atop Mount Washington the winds were recorded at 102 mph overnight as the front passed through.

The high winds and rain knocked out electrical power for thousands of Mainers, including:

. A peak of about 12,000 customer accounts in Central Maine Power Co.’s territory, according to John Carroll, CMP’s manager of communications.

. Bangor Hydro-Electric Co. outages reached about 6,900, according to outage coordinator Bob Toole.

Repair crews from both companies worked through the night, and power was restored to all but a few hundred customers of both utilities by Friday afternoon.

After the winds died down Friday morning, flood watches remained in effect for rivers in Penobscot, Aroostook, Piscataquis and Somerset counties, where river levels were expected to rise 1 to 3 feet because of the combination of overnight rainfall of up to an inch and temperatures well above freezing.

The watch remains in effect until 4 p.m. today, according to the National Weather Service, which warned that the warm and wet conditions and snowmelt and water level increases could cause any intact river ice that has formed to break up and begin moving, which could cause dangerous ice jams.

The NWS advised Mainers to avoid driving into any areas where water covers the roads.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.