March snow shuts courts, cancels schools, bingo

The latest storm to level Maine on Tuesday dumped as much as a foot of snow on eastern and northern portions of the state and shut down most state operations, as well as numerous schools, businesses and town offices.

State police and local law enforcement agencies were relatively subdued, mainly because nothing was open. A dispatcher with the Maine State Police in Orono said Tuesday afternoon that things were “ridiculously quiet.”

The snow started to fall in the overnight hours and hit many commuters driving to work. No serious accidents were reported, but the traffic was slow going. Speed limits on Interstate 95 were reduced to 45 mph.

Dwayne Wolfe, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Caribou, said high winds and gusts caused blowing and drifting in places, but most drivers heeded the winter storm warnings.

“That’s the whole idea with putting out these warnings. It’s nice the people listen,” Wolfe said.

By 3 p.m. Tuesday, 9 inches of snow were reported on the ground in Southwest Harbor and in Ellsworth, the meteorologist said. Most areas were reporting totals around 7 inches.

“There is still some heavy snow; it should end by tonight,” Wolfe said Tuesday.

There were wholesale school cancellations throughout the region, with many districts using up their allotment of snow days. That means school will be extended further into the summer for some.

Organizations canceled meetings, and American Legion posts canceled bingo games. Businesses shut down, as did town, state and federal offices and courts. The Margaret Chase Smith Federal Building in Bangor closed.

Delta Air Lines flights at Bangor International Airport were canceled until after 11 a.m., and three planes safely made emergency landings because of icing. Several flights were canceled at Portland International Jetport.

State agencies and legislative offices were closed Tuesday, and government workers were told to stay home. The Legislature, however, stuck to its schedule. Sort of.

Committee public hearings and work sessions were canceled. Nonetheless, four senators convened a session shortly after 10 a.m., presided over by Sen. John Martin, D-Eagle Lake, formerly the longtime House speaker. The pro forma Senate session took just a few minutes.

About 20 House members gathered to do the same.

Joking about the pin-drop quiet in the nearly deserted State House, Rep. Herbert Clark, D-Millinocket, made a mock prediction: “We’ll get some work done now.”

Little chance of that, though. It was a day merely to clock in and clock out, wet boots and all.

“It’ll be the first time I’ve attended session in my stocking feet,” said Rep. Herbert Adams, D-Portland.

In Portland, the crew at WCSH-TV’s Storm Center tried to have some fun with the snow. Anchors Sharon Rose and Lee Nelson, along with weather forecaster Kevin Mannix, appeared in Hawaiian-style flowered shirts and leis as they informed viewers about weather conditions and school and business closings.

“We’ve had so many of these storms. We were tired of having to say the same old thing over and over again. So we decided to put a new spin on it,” Nelson said. He gave credit to Rose for cooking up the idea.

Despite the storm, two school districts continued to hold their referendum votes.

SAD 53, consisting of Detroit, Pittsfield and Burnham, asked voters to go to the polls to vote on funding for renovations to a middle school.

At 1 p.m., fewer than 50 people had showed up, and the ballot clerks reported that they were singing songs, playing cards and knitting while waiting for voters.

Because of Tuesday’s weather conditions, voter turnout was extremely light in the SAD 68 towns of Dover-Foxcroft, Sebec, Monson and Charleston, where a referendum will determine if a new elementary school is constructed in Dover-Foxcroft.

By afternoon, only about 240 people in Monson, Sebec and Dover-Foxcroft had voted, according to town clerks. Charleston officials could not be reached at the former elementary school where voting was conducted.

Aside from the referendum vote, nearly every other activity or service was postponed or closed. The Piscataquis County commissioners postponed their Tuesday meeting until March 15. The Penobscot County commissioners also canceled their regular meeting.

Snowfall in Aroostook County was light, despite heavy snows for a period of time in the morning. Most of Aroostook County received 5 to 6 inches of snow, according to Lee Foster, another NWS meteorologist in Caribou.

Another 2 to 4 inches was expected during the night before the system was completely gone.

Winds caused most of the problems in Aroostook County, blowing the fresh snow around. Police reported no problems in The County.