Big chill affronts some, delights others Caribou bottoms out at 16 below zero

The coldest weather so far this winter sent the mercury to 16 below zero in Caribou on Wednesday, created dangerous wind chills of 30 to 40 below zero in several Maine communities and caused misery that included dead car batteries and a flood in a downtown Portland office building.

A stiff northwest wind whipping across Penobscot Bay, with early-morning temperatures at about minus 3, made for less than ideal working conditions on the Maine State Ferry Service.

Operations Manager Jim MacLeod, based in Rockland, said crew members dressed for the conditions, wearing long underwear and insulated coveralls, and took their gloves off “as little as possible,” either to punch tickets or chain down trucks as a precaution against choppy seas.

“They try to keep [skin exposure] to a minimum,” he said.

“The coldest period for them is the loading and unloading,” MacLeod said, which on mornings like Wednesday can last up to an hour because of the additional tie-down work.

Crew members took refuge in the heated wheelhouse when the ferries were under way.

With salt spray freezing at 28 degrees, crews must also salt and chip away at any ice that forms on deck, but MacLeod said when he traveled to the mainland from North Haven Wednesday morning, the deck was clear.

The cold did not alter service, with no cancellations or delays on the runs to Islesboro, North Haven and Vinalhaven islands.

The cold probably seemed even colder because the weather has been relatively mild so far this season. In southern Maine, the frigid blast came after the warmest November and second-warmest December on record in Portland. Last winter was mild, as well.

In Portland, the temperature dipped to 1 degree, cold enough to cause pipes to burst in one of the state’s biggest office buildings: One City Center.

Several floors of the 13-story building were flooded and water dripped into offices on the floors below, WGME-TV reported. Outside, the brick walls were coated in ice where water had trickled down the sides of the building.

“There was just water coming from everywhere,” Portland Deputy Fire Chief Larry Libby said after surveying the damage.

Libby described ceiling tiles disintegrating as water poured from pipes that burst inside individual heating units. Firetrucks were on the scene briefly before leaving at noon to let private crews launch a cleanup operation.

Citadel Broadcasting, home to several radio stations on the third floor, was told to watch for water but there were no problems as of 2 p.m.

No serious problems associated with the cold were reported in Hancock County. Police did respond to several minor accidents Wednesday, although none were related to poor conditions.

“It mostly was just people not paying attention,” said Hancock County Sheriff Deputy Shane Campbell after returning from a rollover in Penobscot.

Ellsworth police Lt. Harold Page agreed that things had been quiet Wednesday, but he did say that two of his officers were late getting to work in the morning because their pipes had frozen.

Elsewhere, many people were struggling simply to get their cars started. AAA dealt with 1,800 calls – triple the number of calls on a regular morning – from motorists seeking help in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, said spokesman Matt McKenzie.

The entire state saw temperatures that were either below zero or in the single digits, said Steve Capriola from the National Weather Service in Gray.

The combination of Arctic air and northwest winds combined for wind chills as low as 40 below zero in Allagash, Frenchville and Greenville.

New Hampshire’s Mount Washington saw a wind chill of minus 77.

Portland’s low of 1 degree was the coldest so far this year and it tied the coldest temperature recorded in 2006, Capriola said.

“We just haven’t seen any extreme cold over the past year,” Capriola said Wednesday. “We seem to be making up for it.” It has now been nearly two years since the temperature in Maine’s largest city actually dropped below zero. The last time it happened was on Jan. 29, 2005, when it dipped to 5 below in Portland, Capriola said.

The cold weather will stick around for another night before the mercury begins climbing again, Capriola said. By Friday, the high temperature in southern Maine is expected to approach the mid-30s.