Nearly an inch of slush. That’s what Monday’s storm, a rapidly changing, wintry mix, dropped on much of southern Maine.

The result was a mess of melted snow, rain and sleet that made for some sloppy driving, said Margaret Curtis, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray.

Streets flooded, and a large sinkhole opened up on Route 111 in Biddeford, forcing police to shut down the road at 6:30 p.m. The road was still closed late Monday night.

The storm, which began as snow in the morning, changed over to sleet by late morning, then rain by the afternoon, Curtis said.

Public safety officials said the storm led to one death, and an accident on the Maine Turnpike in Gray that snarled traffic for several hours.

A young woman from out of state, whose name was withheld pending notification of her relatives, was killed Monday morning on Interstate 95 in Etna when her car hit the rear of a parked tow truck. The tow truck driver had pulled into the breakdown lane for a tractor trailer truck that had broken down.

The crash occurred around 10:45 a.m. as heavy snow fell, said Steve McCausland, spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety.

The southbound lanes of the interstate were closed for three hours.

McCausland said state police got reports around noon of six cars sliding off I-295 between Bowdoinham and Richmond.

“There was a substantial difference in temperature in that area, which has been known to happen from time to time,” McCausland said.

The road got icy, he said, and, “it caught a lot of motorists by surprise.”

In Gray, the driver of a tractor-trailer lost control and drove into the median of the Maine Turnpike around 1:30 p.m.

The truck jackknifed over the guardrail, disrupting traffic in the northbound and southbound lanes for several hours.

“It was pretty sloppy out there, with that wintry mix, said Scott Tompkins, spokesman for the Maine Turnpike Authority. “There were patches of standing water that caused some issues.”

Tompkins said the speed limit on the turnpike was lowered to 45 mph at 8:45 a.m. and remained that way for most of the day.

As the sleet and rain melted snow, streets began to flood. But Rob McAleer, director of the Maine Emergency Management Agency, said his office received no reports of river or stream flooding.

He said the state’s River Flow Advisory Commission will meet Thursday in Augusta with federal and state officials and utility companies to assess the risk of river flooding in the weeks to come.

The city of Portland got through Monday’s storm without much trouble. Spokeswoman Nicole Clegg said there were “varying degrees” of street flooding, but no major problems.

Clegg said 67.3 inches of snow has fallen in Portland this winter, compared with the seasonal average of 79.4 inches. Portland has hauled away 1.4 million cubic yards of snow this winter.

Few power outages occurred.

John Carroll, spokesman for Central Maine Power Co., said the 130 outages that were reported occurred during the early afternoon in Sanford, South Portland and Westbrook. Those customers had their power restored by late afternoon.

“I think we have had some luck this winter. We haven’t had as much ice, and the snow hasn’t been as wet and heavy as … in past winters,” Carroll said.

Curtis, the meteorologist, said most of Maine can expect clear skies today but the roads could be icy.

For anyone wondering when the storms might end, there is hope. Spring officially begins on March 20.

Staff Writer Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at: dhoey@pressherald.com