Another round of ice predicted for the never-ending storm

Mon, 12/23/2013 - 9:30am

Lynda Clancy

Crews from Central Maine Power were enjoying a Sunday morning breakfast at Home Kitchen Cafe in Rockland this morning, Dec. 22, before a long day would turn into a long night. (Photo by Lynda Clancy)

LINCOLNVILLE — As of this morning, Dec. 23, the National Weather Service is predicting another round of freezing rain (falling right now) and says the “cold air will be tough to scour out.” That means even more ice may accumulate and the roads and sidewalks will continue to be slippery. Half of Lincolnville is without power, and is currently the town bearing the brunt of the reported outages.

Elsewhere, Washington residents are reporting thick ice on their trees and roads — That’s pretty much the case across the Midcoast and Downeast Maine. In Washington, 26 customers are without power, and in Hope, 21.

This morning, reports of trees falling on wires or into roadways are occurring around the counties, including Appleton, South Thomaston, Lincolnville, Hope to Swanville, with firefighters and public works crews responding.

CMP provides electricity service to 23,760 customers in WALDO County.
Click here to return to outages by county.		Update: Dec 23, 2013 09:19 AM
Town	Total Customers by Town	Customers Without Power
BELFAST	4,372	37
BELMONT	488	1
ISLESBORO	922	922
LINCOLNVILLE	1,673	1,192
MONROE	522	16
NORTHPORT	1,279	473
SEARSMONT	807	192
STOCKTON SPRINGS	1,064	7
WINTERPORT	1,477	13

Here’s the latest from the National Weather Service:

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAY ME
931 AM EST MON DEC 23 2013

...ICY CONDITIONS CONTINUE TODAY...

.LOW PRESSURE PASSING OFFSHORE WILL SPREAD ANOTHER ROUND OF FREEZING
RAIN AND WINTRY PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE AREA TODAY. THE COLD AIR
WILL BE MOST WIDESPREAD THROUGH EARLY AFTERNOON...AND THIS IS THE
TIME PERIOD WHEN THE GREATEST ICE ACCRETION WILL OCCUR. THE
STEADIER PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO WIND DOWN BY LATE AFTERNOON
ACROSS THE REGION.

MEZ012>014-019>022-024>028-232100-
/O.EXT.KGYX.IS.W.0001.000000T0000Z-131223T2100Z/
SOUTHERN OXFORD-SOUTHERN FRANKLIN-SOUTHERN SOMERSET-
INTERIOR CUMBERLAND-ANDROSCOGGIN-KENNEBEC-INTERIOR WALDO-
COASTAL CUMBERLAND-SAGADAHOC-LINCOLN-KNOX-COASTAL WALDO-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...RUMFORD...NORWAY...FRYEBURG...OXFORD...
FARMINGTON...WILTON...MADISON...SKOWHEGAN...PITTSFIELD...
NORTH WINDHAM...GORHAM...BRIDGTON...LEWISTON-AUBURN...
LIVERMORE FALLS...AUGUSTA...WATERVILLE...WINTERPORT...UNITY...
PORTLAND...SOUTH PORTLAND...WESTBROOK...BATH...TOPSHAM...
BOOTHBAY HARBOR...WISCASSET...WALDOBORO...CAMDEN...ROCKLAND...
THOMASTON...BELFAST...LINCOLNVILLE
931 AM EST MON DEC 23 2013

...ICE STORM WARNING NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 PM EST THIS
AFTERNOON...

* ICE ACCUMULATIONS...AROUND ONE HALF OF AN INCH.

* HAZARD TYPES...FREEZING RAIN.

* TIMING...THE FREEZING RAIN WILL CONTINUE. IT'S POSSIBLE THAT
TEMPERATURES RISE TO JUST ABOVE FREEZING AT A FEW LOCATIONS TO
ALLOW FOR A CHANGE TO PLAIN RAIN...ESPECIALLY NEAR THE COAST.
THE COLD AIR WILL BE TOUGH TO SCOUR OUT...AND FREEZING RAIN WILL
LINGER INTO THE AFTERNOON ACROSS THE WESTERN MAINE INTERIOR AND FOOTHILLS.

* IMPACTS...FREEZING RAIN WILL CAUSE ICE TO ACCUMULATE ON MOST
SURFACES. ROADS AND SIDEWALKS WILL BE VERY SLIPPERY AND MAKE
DRIVING AND WALKING DIFFICULT. TREE LIMBS AND POWER LINES WILL
LIKELY SEE SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS BY LATE MORNING. SNAPPED
LIMBS WILL POSE A DANGER TO THOSE OUTSIDE AND COULD LEAD TO
POWER OUTAGES. TRAVEL IS EXPECTED TO BE DIFFICULT THROUGH MID
AFTERNOON.

As the ice continues to build on trees and power lines, outages are being reported. Here is the latest as of 8:30 p.m., Dec. 22, according to Central Maine Power. If your power goes out, call 800-696-1000. To see more information on storm safety and restoration, including a town-by-town listing of outages in the Central Maine Power service area with an area map, visit cmpco.com’s outage page. Islesboro, Lincolnville and Northport are bearing the brunt of the outages, to date. Across Penobscot Bay, Castine, Orland and Penobscot are also hit hard, with 1,369 collectively without electricity, according to CMP, which also serves those towns of Hancock County.

Bangor Hydro is reporting 7,800 customers without power, down from 18,000 earlier today. The storm heavily affected Hancock and Washington counties, especially around Ellsworth and Addison. A number of outages have been reported in Bucksport. Click here to see a map of Bangor Hydro’s current outages along the Downeast coast.

CMP is coordinating its storm preparation efforts with other utilities in the North Atlantic Mutual Assistance Group. It is also lining up contract crews to assist local crews if the storm causes widespread damage. CMP is also keeping the Maine Emergency Management Agency apprised on storm information.

Knox County