The snow drought is about to end for most of us who live away from the coast. A significant winter storm will begin to bring heavy snow, rain and wind to Maine in less than 48 hours.

Expected snowfall amounts

It’s time to get the plows on the trucks and take the winter gear out of storage. The small ski resorts will benefit most from the upcoming coastal storm that is set to bring heavy rain and wind from Down East through the Midcoast and southern coast. However, heavy snow will coat many Maine towns from Friday morning through the night into early Saturday.

Let’s dig into the details:

An area of low pressure will develop and “hug” the coast of Maine on Thursday night into Saturday morning. This system will increase a strong wind off the relatively mild Gulf of Maine and bring above-freezing temperatures inland.

This is the low end of expected snowfall amounts.

I do not expect much snow at the coast and any that falls at the onset on Friday morning will be washed away.

It is places such as Lewiston/Auburn, interior southwest Maine, the foothills and western mountains where significant totals of more than 6 inches to a foot or more is expected.

The maps show the percentages of low end, high end and most-likely snow forecast amounts from the storm.

The expected high end of snowfall ranges.

There is also a power outage threat with heavy, wet snow on power lines and wind gusts of more than 40 mph.

I will share that a “jackpot” area of heaviest snow could fall between interior York County into the Oxford Hills back up through Lewiston/Auburn. It will depend on the track of the “low” in the Gulf of Maine and where the rain/snow line moves throughout the day Friday.

Winter storm watches and warnings will begin to show up on your smartphones today and tomorrow.

Keep checking my facebook page for updates on the storm as new data comes in.