Photo by Ed LaPointe
FARMINGTON – A couple of feet of snow covered most of Franklin County today, canceling school, bringing down power lines and resulting in the governor making a morning emergency declaration.
Beginning last night, the powerful storm was still lashing the northern part of the county at noon. Meanwhile, highway department crews began clearing the way for a handful of morning commuters. Many businesses remained closed through the day.
All MSAD 9 (Chesterville, Farmington, Industry, New Sharon, New Vineyard, Temple, Vienna, Wilton, Weld), MSAD 58 (Avon, Eustis, Kingfield, Phillips, Strong), Jay and Rangeley (Union 37) schools were closed.
Scattered power outages were reported across Farmington, slightly more than 2,000 reported by Central Maine Power, which said that as many as 129,150 homes were without power across the state. While the sticky snow brought some lines down with over-burdened tree limbs, high winds followed the storm and did their share of damage as well.
All in all, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather observers said that the storm was one of the most powerful in “quite a few years.”
Sheriff Dennis Pike, a NOAA observer for Farmington, reported 26.2 inches of snow this morning. Pike noted that the snowfall last night was heavy at times, with as much as 2.5 inches falling an hour at certain intervals.
He was unaware of any major accidents or problems, with the vast majority of people taking the advice of Governor John E. Baldacci, who urged Mainers to stay home. Baldacci announced an emergency declaration from Washington D.C., where he is attending a National Governors Association conference, at 9 a.m. this morning. That announcement allows utility crews to waive restrictions on how long they can work, enabling a quicker restoration of services.
Northern Franklin County continued to see blizzard conditions well into the afternoon today. NOAA observer Betty Wing, in Eustis, reported 11.2 inches as of 6:30 a.m., estimating that another few inches had falled throughout the course of the day.
“It’s still snowing,” she said around noon, “I can just barely make out the trees across the river.”
Wing noted that the storm occurred near the end of an extremely dry February, with only 18 inches of snow falling so far in the month in 2009. By comparison, last year’s February saw 55 inches of snow fall in Eustis.
“It’s been a pretty light month,” Wing noted.
Saddleback ski resort, in Rangeley, reported two feet of new snow. Despite the attraction, Pike said he only saw eight cars with skies on the roof heading north on Routes 4 & 27.
“When the snow is too deep for skiing,” Pike joked, “that’s an interesting phenomenon.”
Photo by Cynthia Brackett-Vincent
Even one car “with skies on the roof” is too many. Chicken Little was right!