Snow is piling up in Maine

PORTLAND — The snow is piling up in Maine, surpassing the typical season’s total.

Meteorologist Chris Legro from the National Weather Service says Portland had nearly 70 inches — more than 2 feet more than normal — before the latest batch of snow arrived Tuesday with the prospects for up to 9 or 10 inches in parts of southern Maine.

The snowfall has already exceeded the season average total of nearly 62 inches.

More snow is expected Wednesday. More precipitation is due Friday, but that will be mostly rain.

Legro says that while there has been plenty of snow, he said the state isn’t on track for record territory. The all-time record for Portland was 141 inches of snow in 1970-71.

This means….

Heavy snow is expected to accumulate 4 to 8 inches.
Slippery road conditions and visibility of less than a quarter mile.
Winds at 10 mph to 15 mph with gusts up to 20 mph.
Temperatures in the lower 20s.
Snow continues overnight.
There is a potential for significant snow, sleet or ice accumulations that could impact travel.
Precipitation — a wintry mix — is expected Wednesday morning. It should turn to snow later in the day.

Get updated National Weather Service forecasts for Maine.

If you have to travel…

511 Maine is MaineDOT’s map of road conditions.
WGME has a statewide list of weather closings and delays. It’s worth checking before you get into the car.
Flying? The Portland Jetport has flight tracking data. (Their map of airport delays is helpful.) Bangor International Airport has flight status information too.

Parking bans?

Auburn has a parking ban from 7 p.m. today until 7 a.m. Wednesday.
Lewiston’s parking ban starts at 6 p.m. today and ends at 7 a.m. Wednesday.
Lisbon has declared a ban starting at 1 p.m. today until 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Portland has a parking ban from 10 p.m. today to 6 a.m. Wednesday.

Write this down before you can’t read it

If outages occur, CMP urges customers to call the toll-free outage hotline: 1-800-696-1000.
If you’re going to use a back up generator in a power outage, CMP has generator safety information.
It’s worth reinforcing safety measures to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.
The American Red Cross has tips for preventing and thawing frozen pipes.

Show us your storm

Send your photos from the storm to storm@sunjournal.com. Be sure to tell us who you are and where the photo is taken. We will share submitted photos.

SunJournal.com has updates and shares news on its website, Facebook page and the Twitter account @SunJournal.

The Maine Emergency Management Association has a collection of winter preparation resources.

: A snow remover clears up the street during a heavy snowy day in Chicago, Monday, Feb. 17, 2014. The Chicago area was hit by relatively rare thundersnow as a wind-whipped storm caused near white-out conditions just in time for the evening rush hour. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

: A snow remover clears up the street during a heavy snowy day in Chicago on Monday, Feb. 17, 2014. The Chicago area was hit by relatively rare thundersnow as a wind-whipped storm caused near white-out conditions just in time for the evening rush hour. The same storm is headed for Maine.