A winter storm buried northern New England with heavy snow, causing a messy commute and creating a scary moment Wednesday when a man slipped and fell into Portland Harbor.
There were no reports of serious highway accidents, but firefighters scrambled to rescue a man who slipped off a gangway between a pier and a boat in Portland. The man was hospitalized for exposure after firefighters used ladders to reach him and pluck him from the icy water.
Far northern Maine was getting the worst of it with strong wind gusts that limited visibility, along with the prospect of more than a foot of snow.
Southern New England was spared from the worst of the snowstorm, which arrived Tuesday afternoon.
In northern New England, there were varying levels of snow from 4 to 9 inches across much of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. Parts of Aroostook County are expected to get 15 inches.
The near-whiteout conditions and blowing snow in Maine’s Aroostook County were bad enough for Gov. Janet Mills to close state offices for the day.
Hundreds of schools and businesses were either closed or delayed their openings. In New Hampshire, former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat eyeing a run for president, canceled an appearance in Londonderry because of the weather.