2nd winter storm in less than a week burying Maine under fresh snow

Feb. 4—This story will be updated.

Mainers awoke Friday morning to find the streets outside buried under a fresh sheet of snow that will only get deeper as the day drags on.

Nearly the entire state will remain under a winter storm warning until 7 p.m. according to the National Weather Service. The storm, the second wallop of snow to hit Maine in less than a week, prompted school and government office closures all over the state, because the storm is likely to make for difficult travel, according to a weather service advisory.

Rain falling over the state on Thursday transformed into snow overnight as colder air blew in from the north.

The forecast calls for another 7.4 inches of snow over Greater Bangor between 7 a.m. Friday and 7 a.m. Saturday, according to the weather service office in Caribou.

Another 5.8 inches are expected to fall in Millinocket, 7.3 inches in Houlton, 6.2 inches in Presque Isle, 6 inches in Caribou and 4.6 inches in Fort Kent.

That will add up to between 12 to 18 inches of snow through the duration of the storm from Bangor to Houlton, while 8 to 12 inches in total are expected to accumulate by the storm's end from Presque Isle to Caribou. Only 4 to 8 inches are expected to accumulate in total from Fort Kent to Van Buren.

Warmer air lingering off the coast will turn that snow into sleet and freezing rain, limiting new snowfall Down East to 3.6 inches in Bar Harbor and 5 inches in Eastport. About 1 to 2 inches of sleet and 0.1 inches of ice are expected to fall over coastal Hancock and Washington counties, the Caribou weather station reported.

The total accumulation expected for the southern coast will be markedly lower than much of the state, with just 2 to 3 inches expected from Portland to Rockland, according to the weather service office in Gray.

Meanwhile, the western mountains, which were largely spared from the most recent storm, should see 12 to 18 inches by the time the snow moves out of the state later Friday, the weather station in Gray reported.