CARIBOU – Winds of 25-40 mph whipped freshly fallen snow throughout Tuesday night and much of the day Wednesday, causing whiteouts and drifting snow that closed roads and schools and delayed or canceled meetings and sports activities.

For the second time in three days, schoolchildren from Presque Isle north to the Canadian border stayed home Wednesday because of the weather.

Fresh snow, as much as 8 inches that fell Tuesday, was pushed by winds of up to 40 mph, National Weather Service meteorologist Mark Bloomer said Wednesday afternoon.

Roads left open to the winds, particularly in areas with large potato fields, filled quickly with snowdrifts, some as high as 6 feet, making them look like seascapes with drifts simulating whitecaps.

The ferocity of the wind was eerie during the night. It whistled and groaned around buildings. Many people talked Wednesday about being awakened by the noise during the night.

In towns and cities, streets were narrowed by the growing mountains of snow pushed aside by plows.

“It was some wild this morning,” said Dave Bell, Caribou public works director, on Wednesday.

The state Department of Transportation in the central St. John Valley was using a large four-wheel-drive V-plow to push back the snow banks Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Much of northern Aroostook County has received up to 30 inches of snow since Sunday morning.

“The blowing and drifting snow made for treacherous driving conditions,” Bloomer said. “An accident this morning closed part of Route 1 for a time.”

According to local officials, there were no schools open in the St. John Valley, and schools were also closed in Caribou, Presque Isle and Ashland on the Route 11 corridor.

Bloomer said more snow fell in the western regions of northern Maine.

Public works department crews have been taking the hardest punch from the back-to-back storms on Sunday and Monday, and on Tuesday and Wednesday.

At least two towns said their workers had worked an average of 60 hours between Sunday morning and noon Wednesday.

“We still have roads that are half-plugged,” said Caribou’s Bell. “The drifting snow, driven by the high winds, is ridiculous.”

It was much the same in Fort Kent, where they had equipment problems during the first two days of the back-to-back storms.

The Fort Kent Public Works Department normally operates with four full-time men. This week, the town hired seven or eight part-time people to help out.

“We are calling it quits at 5 p.m. today, and everyone is going home,” Fort Kent Town Manager Donald Guimond said on Wednesday afternoon. “Things should be in decent shape by then.”