Nearly 330,000 Maine households are without power and forecasters expect that number to continue to rise throughout the day.
With over half of CMP customers without power, the company says it's working as quickly as it can to restore power.
CMP says crews have responded to 1,200 emergency response calls to clear blocked roads and de-energize fallen power lines. The company says an additional 250 crews are on their way to help out.
Jon Breed, a spokesperson for CMP, says much of the damage comes from limb loading, where heavy wet snow piles on top of tree branches until they snap. Breed says repairs will take some time.
"We have restored power about 35,000 people so far, and we will continue working over the next several days. I'll say we'll probably get a number of customers restored this weekend, though it will be early next week for some customers in the hardest hit areas," he says.
Breed added the timeline for power restoration could be similar to the late December storm, which took nearly a week for some customers.
Hunter Tubbs, with the National Weather service in Gray, says that wet snow is likely to continue to blanket much of the state through this evening, with strong wind gusts.
"But maybe some improvement later in the day, just because snow will be starting to maybe fall off the trees. But it will still remain windy. So we'll see how that all plays out," he says.
Tubbs says that winds will be strongest along the coast — with gusts potentially reaching up to 60 miles per hour — but snow doesn't appear to be piling up much there. He says snowfall should decrease and temperatures should increase by this afternoon, which will improve conditions.
"That should keep most of the additional accumulations on nonpaved surfaces, with roadways probably not seeing much additional accumulations by this afternoon," he says.
The Maine turnpike says it has had about 90 plow trucks deployed since 10 p.m. Wednesday. Public outreach manager Erin Courtney says the heavier snow is actually making it easier for the plows to do their job.
"I'm sure its not easier for people at home trying to shovel their driveways or anything like that, but on the roads, yes, it's not blowing around causing drifts, and visibilitywise it's easier," she says.
The Turnpike Authority is advising people to stay home if at all possible. Courtney says any drivers who are out on the roads should give the snow plows plenty of room and keep two hands on the wheel at all times.
The storm has canceled or delayed flights into and out of Maine. Around a third of the Portland Jetport's 55 scheduled flights today have been canceled. Six flights are delayed, with more expected throughout the afternoon and evening.
At Bangor International Airport, Marketing Manager Aimee Thibodeau says maintenance crews began storm prep yesterday and have been clearing snow off the tarmacs.
"What gets tricky is when these conditions change quickly from snow to rain or snow to ice terrain. Those icy conditions are really much harder to deal with much more difficult for our snow teams that are out there than just the straight snow," she says.
While only one flight out of Bangor has been canceled so far, Thibodeau says the airport will continue to monitor the situation. Flight delays and cancellations are determined by the airline, not the airport.
As of about 9 a.m. Friday, just more than 254,000 CMP customers were without power, with approximately 5,300 Versant customers also in the dark.
