New Year’s Day ice, freezing rain cause treacherous travel conditions statewide

New Year’s Day brought a mix of messy precipitation that made for treacherous travel conditions around the state.

The National Weather Service issued weather advisories for all of Maine because of a mix of sleet and freezing rain that caused travel problems as it left a glaze of ice on roads, sidewalks, vehicles and trees.

Police reported interstates as well as secondary roads in many parts of the state were nearly undrivable. Icy conditions slowed traffic on Interstate 95 north of Bangor to a crawl Monday morning, as cars and at least two tractor-trailers slid off the highway.

Despite numerous accidents, there were no reports of serious injuries, said Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Department of Public Safety.

“The good news is that traffic’s extremely light,” McCausland said.

The weather system was caused by a surge of warm air that pushed into Maine and clashed with cold air that was trapped near the ground. As rain fell from the warm air above into the cold air at the ground, it froze on contact with roads, sidewalks and other surfaces.

The precipitation turned over to rain in southern and coastal sections by late morning. Freezing rain continued into the afternoon in northern areas.

Despite icing of a quarter- to a half-inch, Central Maine Power officials reported only a handful of isolated power outages

Bangor International Airport shut down its runways for about 20 minutes Monday because of the weather. The Portland International Jetport shut down its runways early Monday due to freezing rain, but they were reopened around 9 a.m.

Today is expected to be mostly cloudy with occasional snow showers in western and northern Maine.

Temperatures during the week are expected to range from the low 30s in the north to the mid- and high 40s in southern and coastal areas.