CARIBOU

Get the snow blowers and plow trucks ready. Again.

The National Weather Service is calling for another major winter storm to dump as much as 16 inches of snow on parts of Maine beginning Saturday and continuing through Sunday. A blizzard watch is in effect for southern and coastal Maine during that span.

Snow is expected to begin during the day Saturday and spread from west to east, increasing in intensity overnight. By Sunday morning, heavy snow is likely, especially along the coast, with very strong winds of 25 mph gusting to 50 mph, according to the weather service.

“We’re expecting 12 to 16 inches, but it will be nearly impossible to measure because of the very strong winds with this storm,” Corey Bogel, a meteorologist with the weather service in Caribou, said Thursday evening. “The highest amounts will be right along the coast, but it will be fairly uniform. MDI might see a few more inches than the Bangor area.”

Whiteout conditions are expected during the brunt of the storm Sunday, making driving hazardous. Along with the snow will come potentially dangerous wind chills.

“Temperatures will be in the high single digits to the teens, so when you add in the wind, we could see wind chills of 20 below,” Bogel said.

Preparing for the storm won’t be a walk in the park, either.

Maine experienced frigid temperatures Thursday, which were expected to plummet even further today.

The National Weather Service’s Gray forecast center issued a wind chill advisory from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. today for parts of the state.

FOR MORE, see the Bangor Daily News at www.bangordailynews.com

SNOW IS EXPECTED to begin during the day Saturday and spread from west to east, increasing in intensity overnight. By Sunday morning, heavy snow is likely, especially along the coast, with very strong winds of 25 mph gusting to 50 mph.