The blizzard known as Nemo shattered records in Maine and lingered on Saturday, adding to nearly 30-inch snowfall totals.
The major winter storm continued to blow drifting snow across the region Saturday morning, and there was no expectation of a quick end to the storm, the National Weather Service reported.
"It's a storm that is not wanting to move out to sea very quickly," said Mike Kistner, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Gray.
Temperatures stayed in the teens, keeping the snow light and creating near whiteout conditions.
By 8 a.m. Saturday morning, the Portland Jetport reported 29.3 inches of snow, which set a new record for a single snowstorm, Kistner said. The previous record was set back in Jan. 17-18, 1979, when 27.1 inches fell.
"We still have some time left to crush that record pretty good. ... I can see Portland probably is going to come in at 33 or 34 inches," he said.
Other storms were bumped down the list of greatest: The blizzard of 1952, lasting from Feb. 17-18, dumped 25.3 inches; third was the storm of Jan. 23-24, 1935, when 23.3 inches of snow were reported.
By Saturday morning, Nemo had exceeded those totals. South Windham logged 28 inches around 8 a.m., Gorham 26.1 inches of snow around 7 a.m. and Cumberland had 23 inches of snow as of 6 a.m. At Gray, at the National Weather Service station, officials reported 21.4 inches of snow at 7 a.m.
On Friday morning around 8 a.m., as the storm picked up force, a multi-car pile-up closed part of Interstate 295, near the Falmouth spur. Officials said 19 vehicles were involved; no major injuries were reported. By 11 a.m. Saturday, the Maine State Police reported no major incidents for the day.
Heavy snow, along with strong wind gusts, were expected to continue across much of New England early Saturday morning, before beginning to slowly taper off from west to east later in the morning and into the afternoon.
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Nemo shatters storm records
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