MIDCOAST — Monday has the hint of spring — warm sunshine, melting snow. Tuesday, however, is going to be a different story. So will Wednesday. And the cancellations are already filtering through the inbox. Meteorologists are saying it’s going to be a serious storm and have issued a winter storm warning for the western mountains through the Midcoast. Blowing and drifting snow. Windy, with gusts up to 40 mph.

The snow is supposed to begin late tonight in Southern Maine and move north and down east, arriving in the Midcoast by early Tuesday morning.

“The snow will become heavy at times during the day Tuesday before beginning to taper off Tuesday night and early Wednesday,” according to the National Weather Service, in Gray. “Snow is expected to linger in the mountains and foothills into Wednesday. A significant snowfall is expected for the entire area, but variations in the storm track are still possible. If the storm tracks further to the south, lower snowfall amounts would be expected, any shift in the storm track closer to southern New England would lead to greater snow totals for the region.”

Travel is expected to be difficult to impossible Tuesday evening, with 12 to 18 inches anticipated.

Here’s the forecast: