Icy road conditions made traveling difficult in southern Maine on Monday with several accidents and backups reported during the morning commute.

A vehicle on its roof was reported in Alfred just after 7 a.m. The accident occurred on Jordan Spring Road and no injuries were reported. No other details were immediately available.

“We’ve seen some snow, sleet and freezing rain, all of it in Portland, and that’s causing some accumulation on the roads,” said Chris Kimble of the National Weather Service in Gray. “I expect that to change more toward sleet and snow through the rest of the morning. I don’t expect more than an inch of accumulation.”

Speed limits were reduced to 45 mph along the entire length of the Maine Turnpike.

Accidents causing traffic delays were reported on the Maine Turnpike at mile marker 10 southbound in York and at mile marker 42 southbound in Scarborough, on Beech Ridge Road in Eliot, on Alfred Road in Sanford, on Route 111 at Blueberry Lane in Biddeford, on Buxton Road in Saco and on Sokokis Trail (Route 5) near Lee’s Restaurant in Waterboro.

Dispatchers with the Maine State Police and Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office reported numerous cars off the road across greater Portland, but none with reports of serious injuries. None of the accidents required road closures, according to dispatchers.

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A car flipped over a guard rail on Sebago Lake Road (Route 237) in Gorham around 5:30 a.m., but that accident has been cleared and no major injuries were reported, according to a dispatcher for the sheriff’s office.

A flood watch was posted for the Bangor area and Down East because of occasional rain, snow melt and ice jams. A small-craft advisory was posted for off the Maine coast.

The storm washed away some snow to the south, while adding to the snowpack to the north.

The National Weather Service said Down East saw 2 to 2.5 inches of rain but it was a different story to the north. Meteorologist Corey Bogel said there was up to a foot of snow in northern Aroostook County.

Forecasters are watching the snowmelt carefully. Officials want a slow and steady snowmelt to avoid flooding and ice jams. But Bogel said there’s no snowmelt yet in northern Maine.


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