The winter storm expected to drop upwards of a foot on the Midcoast has arrived.

As of early Thursday afternoon, Feb. 13, the snow was falling steadily and models from the National Weather Service in Gray showed the storm moving as predicted.

NWS predicts that the coastal regions will continue to see snow until later Thursday night, when the storm has the possibility to switch to rain and sleet.

With any winter storm, outages are expected. But, because the storm's path was easy to follow, Central Maine Power pulled its crews and readied them for service, according to a release.

CMP had sent 25 work crews to Pennsylvania to help restore power in the Keystone State.

But, with the winter storm rumbling north, the crews were expected back by Thursday afternoon, also from the release.

As of 2:45 p.m., the only outages reported in the state were in Knox County.

Click here to view where outages have been reported.

Original post:

Things are about to get slushy.

A winter storm is rumbling along the eastern United States and will bring rain, snow, sleet and wind with it when it comes to the Midcoast on Thursday, Feb. 13.

Meteorologist Margaret Curtis at the National Weather Service in Gray said the ends of the peninsulas (South Bristol, Southport and Boothbay Harbor) can expect a bevy of wintery conditions when the storm, which has been glazing the south for the past few days, hits the Midcoast at approximately 1 p.m. Thursday.

“It's in Georgia right now, but I guess they don't want it because they're sending it up our way,” she said. “Boothbay is right in that lucky area where we're expecting some rain to mix in with the snow.”

The storm is expected to last from early Thursday afternoon to Friday afternoon. After 24 hours of wintry weather, expect a minimum of four inches along the coast with up to a foot inland, Curtis said.

“In the evening hours expect some rain and sleet mixing in,” she said. “The sleet will keep snowfall totals down along the coast.”

In addition to precipitation, an ocean gale warning is expected to be put in place Thursday, Curtis said. Expect seas of 10 to 15 feet and winds gusting upwards of 45 knots.

But, there is one bright spot, Curtis said.

“Rain is easier to shovel than snow,” she said.