Wintry mix hammers Northeast

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BANGOR – A snowstorm began its assault on Maine on Monday, spelling trouble for travelers but elation for ski resorts that suffered through an abysmal winter last year.

Drivers in much of the region navigated a tricky mix of rain, sleet and snow as the storm – which was blamed for at least 16 deaths – made its way east, blanketing northern New England overnight and promising up to 2 feet of precipitation in some places.

The National Weather Service office in Caribou issued a winter storm warning for all of northern and Down East Maine into today, with heavy snow at times tapering to snow showers by about noon. Snowfall totals were expected to be 8 to 14 inches in northern Maine, up to 24 inches Down East.

The weather service also cautioned that winds of 15 to 25 mph with gusts over 30 mph would cause blowing and drifting snow with near-whiteout conditions possible Monday night into today.

“It’s not snow; it’s white gold,” said Christopher Francis, innkeeper at Ye Olde England Inne, a 30-room inn in the shadow of Stowe Mountain Resort in Vermont.

Seven inches of powdery white fluff welcomed skiers and snowboarders Monday morning.

School was canceled or classes delayed from New York to Maine as highways turned slippery and wind gusted to 40 mph. Ice storm warnings were issued for Massachusetts and Connecticut, and winter storm warnings were in effect in Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and northern and western New York.

At Portland International Jetport, flights were canceled because of poor conditions at connecting airports. On Monday night, Bangor International Airport reported some delays but no cancellations.

Drivers were encouraged to take it slow, but not all did.

“The first [storm] is the worst one,” said Bob Elder, a retired police officer in Gray who saw cars sliding off the road on his 20-mile commute to Portland.

“People forget how to drive. They were all over the road. They were slipping and sliding, going too fast. It happens every year,” Elder said.

In Saco, a motorist died after the Jeep he was driving veered off a road, rolled down an embankment and crashed into a pond, landing upside down. The man, identified as Shawn Russell, 43, died at the scene despite the efforts of police officers who broke through the ice to extricate him, said Deputy Chief Charles Labonte.

In western New York state, an 18-year-old woman was killed Sunday when her car slid into the path of another vehicle on a rural road in Cattaraugus County.

Many schools canceled classes ahead of the storm, which moved into Maine before Monday’s morning commute. While most community colleges in the state canceled classes Monday morning, the University of Maine didn’t call off classes until after noon.

High winds and heavy snows knocked out power to more than 1,600 Bangor Hydro-Electric Co. customers during the day Monday, mostly in Hancock County, according to spokeswoman Susan Faloon. By late Monday night, the number had been reduced to fewer than 700. Central Maine Power was trying to restore power to just fewer than 300 customers late Monday, most in Hermon, Glenburn and Levant.

With fewer vehicles on the road because of storm-related closings, police reported cars and trucks off the road but no major accidents.

“This is a chance to refresh our winter driving habits. We need to remember that we can’t stop as quickly on snow and ice as we can on dry pavement,” said Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety.

Maine state government closed at 2 p.m. by order of Gov. John Baldacci, who said the early quitting time would reduce the number of drivers on the road after dark.

Bangor police Sgt. Bob Bishop and Brewer Sgt. Richard Smith said people in the cities heeded warnings to stay indoors and off the streets.

“There are not a lot of people on the roads,” Bishop said around 3 p.m. Monday. “There have been a couple of accidents, none personal-injury.”

Bans preventing parking on city streets were put into effect for the night in Bangor and Brewer.

Sgt. Jon Carson, Orrington’s community policing supervisor for the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department, responded to several accident calls on Route 15 in the morning.

The roadway was closed for about two hours after a 9:30 a.m. accident involving a Jeep Grand Cherokee that slid sideways off the road and broadsided a utility pole on the driver’s side. The woman driver was lucky to walk away with minor cuts on her face, Carson said.

But just as one lane of the roadway was opened, an elderly man drove off the road, blocking traffic again, Carson said.

Once he was helped back onto the road, the truck behind him lost its clutch, Carson said.

“It just never ended,” he said.

Local, county and state police reported similar stories around Maine throughout the day and evening. Most were kept busy assisting motorists who had either skidded off slippery, snow-covered roads or who couldn’t make it up slick hills. Most of the accidents were not serious because road conditions did not allow for high speeds.

In Mount Desert, a 21-year-old woman walked away from a rollover accident that demolished her vehicle but resulted only in minor cuts and bruises for her.

Lt. Christopher Coleman, head of the Maine State Police Troop J barracks for Hancock and Washington counties, said accidents were more prevalent in the morning hours.

“It’s quieted down this afternoon; I think people are staying home,” he said.

Most evening events – including dance classes, sporting events and meetings – were canceled or postponed throughout eastern and northern Maine.

With public buildings and many businesses closed for the storm, traffic was lighter than normal, helping local and state highway departments do a better job of clearing roads of snow.

Bangor Public Works snow removal crews hit the city streets at 4 a.m. Monday and were expected to work nonstop through today, dispatcher Jayne Dehahn said Monday night.

“Things are moving right along at a good pace,” she said, adding, “Every piece of equipment we have is out there right now.”

Though the storm had dumped well more than a foot of snow by Monday evening, Dehahn saw an upside: Snow can be a good insulator when packed around foundations of buildings. “This might help with the cost of fuel,” she said.

At a popular sledding hill in South Portland, dozens raced downhill on snowboards, tubes and sleds.

Tom Lacascia and his 8-year-old son, Frank, were the first to arrive at 8:30 a.m. Lacascia, who recently moved from Long Island, N.Y., liked the early arrival of wintry weather.

“We usually don’t get snow until January down there,” Lacascia said. “I think this is great.”

A group of high school students showed off their acrobatic snowboarding skills over a jump on the hill.

“I’ve been waiting for this,” said Zach Viola, 14. “I’m pumped.”

At Drillen Hardware in South Portland, customers came in search of snow scrapers and shovels. The storm’s buildup on television spurred a run over the weekend on shovels, bags of ice-melting products, firewood, kerosene and flashlights.

When one of the lifts at Stowe Mountain Resort in Vermont opened at 8 a.m. Monday, a line of skiers and snowboarders was waiting.

“We were supposed to be leaving today, but we decided to stay once we saw the weather,” said snowboarder James Bykowski, 31, of Belmar, N.J., arriving about 9 a.m. “I was pretty pumped,” he said. His girlfriend, a teacher, called in sick Monday. She didn’t want to give her name.

“This is a great way to start the season,” said John Block, 37, of Huntington, N.Y., lacing up his boots in the parking lot. “It makes all the traveling and the waiting worthwhile.”

Last year, Stowe was forced to close for four days in December for lack of snow. This year, it has been a different story: Early season snow prompted the resort to open a week early Nov. 17, and cold weather has helped snowmaking since then, according to Michael Colbourn, a Stowe Mountain spokesman.

“How do I feel today? Euphoric,” he said.

The Associated Press and Bangor Daily News writers Aimee Dolloff, Nok-Noi Ricker, Eric Russell, Rich Hewitt, Jen Lynds, Walter Griffin and Dawn Gagnon contributed to this report.