PRESQUE ISLE – Winds gusting as high as 50 mph Monday created whiteout conditions and slippery roads that were blamed for more than 150 accidents around Aroostook County.

“It’s a nightmare,” Caribou Police Chief Arthur Gorney said. “It’s terrible, and we are telling people to stay off the roads.”

Police began responding to calls Monday morning, and by midafternoon, extra state police had to be called in to handle the crush of accident calls.

State police at Houlton had logged 132 calls by 4:30 p.m., according to a state trooper who answered the phone. Presque Isle police had responded to more than 20 calls by midafternoon, a dispatcher said.

Multiple vehicle accidents were reported in several locations, including one involving eight vehicles in Bridgewater.

People were hurt in several accidents, including a morning accident on Route 164 in Washburn and an afternoon accident on Route 1 in Littleton.

Route 1 between Westfield and Presque Isle, Presque Isle and Caribou, and Caribou and Van Buren was closed much of the day, as police dealt with accidents and tried to keep people off roads to prevent additional crashes.

Route 1A north from Mars Hill also was closed. A fire truck from Mars Hill was being used to block traffic. In other cases, police asked the state Department of Transportation to set up barricades.

Sections of Route 11 between Ashland and Masardis, Route 10 between Presque Isle and Easton, the Conant Road in Presque Isle, Route 164 in Washburn, and Route 161 in Caribou also were closed at times.

Schools in central and southern Aroostook County were closed Monday, as were the district courts in Presque Isle and Houlton. Schools were open in the St. John Valley.

Despite the efforts of municipal and state plow crews to keep the roads clear, wind blowing over snowbanks piled high from previous storms blasted snow 10 to 12 feet into the air before dropping it back onto road surfaces. The blowing snow made it nearly impossible for drivers to see – or stop.

Galen Costigan, division engineer with MDOT at Presque Isle, said Monday was worse than the mid-February blizzard that socked Aroostook County.

The state had three trucks involved in accidents on Monday. There were no injuries.

“It’s bad anyplace there are open fields, or at the crest of hills,” Costigan said.

Joe Hewitt, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service at Caribou, said Monday’s problems in northern Maine were caused by intensifying low pressure that started off the Gulf of Maine and ended north of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

The strong winds created wind chills as low as minus 35, he said.

Conditions were expected to improve by mid-evening Monday, and winds were to diminish to between 15 mph and 25 mph.