Maine welcomes spring with snow shovels

LEWISTON — Many area residents celebrated the first day of spring with a snow shovel. According to the National Weather Service, about half an inch of wet, sloppy snow fell on Lewiston and Auburn. It turned to rain as the sun rose.

Areas farther north and east were hit harder. Residents in Jay and Hebron reported 14 inches of snow overnight.

Heavy snow mixed with sleet and rain covered most of Maine on Thursday, making for slippery roads and power outages.

Emera Maine reported about 7 a.m. that 3,316 were without power in Hancock County due to heavy snow on utility lines. Southwest Harbor was worst hit, the company said in a release, but there were many smaller scattered outages throughout the county.

About 10:45 a.m., the company reported service had been restored to all but 62 customers.

Information from the Bangor Daily News was used in this report.

: “I’m 90 years old! I shouldn’t be out here doing this,” said Normand Jambard as he cleared catch basins at the corner of Walnut and Jefferson Street Thursday on the first day of spring. The late winter storm left well over an inch of wet, slushy mix in the twin cities, and around 9 inches of fresh powder at Saddleback Ski Resort and other higher elevations.

: “I’m 90 years old! I shouldn’t be out here doing this,” said Normand Jambard as he cleared catch basins at the corner of Walnut and Jefferson streets in Lewiston on Thursday, the first day of spring. The late-winter storm left about half an inch of wet, slushy mix in Lewiston-Auburn and about 9 inches of fresh powder in the mountains.