Central Maine Power chipped away Friday at a backlog of power outages caused by this week’s spring snowstorm, but warned that many of its 39,000 customers who were without power Friday would still be waiting for service on Saturday.

In New Hampshire, nearly all of the lights were back on by Friday afternoon. At the storm’s peak, utilities reported more than 80,000 homes and businesses had lost power, but the total was down to 3,500 by Friday afternoon.

In terms of outages, it was Maine’s worst since the ice storm of 1998, when a quarter-million customer accounts were affected – or 340,000 if you include those knocked out more than once.

“This is a serious storm for us,” said John Carroll, spokesman for Central Maine Power Co., the state’s largest electric utility.

The storm brought more than a foot of heavy, wet snow to northern New England on Wednesday and Thursday, knocking out power to as many as 100,000 homes and businesses in Maine on top of the 80,000-plus in New Hampshire.

Snow-laden trees and branches crashed down, snapping utility poles and tearing down power lines.

Maine Gov. John Baldacci signed an emergency declaration allowing utility crews from other states to help out. Even with the help, many Mainers were expected to remain in the dark into the weekend.

Bangor Hydro-Electric Co. reported more than 4,000 outages at the peak, but had restored power to everyone by 4:30 p.m. Friday. About a dozen Hydro crews were sent into CMP territory Friday to help with outages there.

Some CMP customers in southern York County and east of Brunswick – the two hardest-hit areas – likely won’t have electricity restored until Saturday, Carroll said.

The New Hampshire Electric Cooperative had restored power to all but about 1,000 homes and businesses by mid-afternoon Friday, mostly in the Raymond area. It expected power to be restored later today. The cooperative reported about 20,000 outages at the peak on Thursday.

Snowfall tallies ranged from 3 inches along the Maine coast at Kittery Point at the state’s southwestern tip to 18 inches in Wilton and Hartford. Portland received 11.6 inches, tying the record for the fifth-biggest snowfall in April.

In New Hampshire, North Conway received 14.5 inches, while Nashua got 5.5 inches.

In both states, the storm was expected to extend the spring skiing season for resorts that got off to a slow start because of the early winter warm spell. In Rangeley, Maine, the Saddleback ski resort boasted 39 inches of new snow. Both Saddleback and Sunday River in Newry, near Maine’s border with New Hampshire, said they were reopening trails thanks to the new snow.

Sugarloaf USA in Carrabassett Valley, Maine, reported 31 inches of new powder over three days.

In New Hampshire, two people were killed in traffic accidents during the storm. Hooksett police said Jason Green, 21, of Hooksett died Thursday from injuries suffered in a collision Wednesday. Also Wednesday, Dennis Gaudet of Dracut, Mass., was killed when his car ran off I-93 on the Canterbury-Concord line and hit a tree.

The storm forced the Portland Sea Dogs to postpone Friday’s season opener to Saturday.