Ocean-Effect Snow Squall Triggers 15 Crashes on I-295 Near Brunswick

A sudden ocean-effect snow squall caught Thursday morning commuters off guard near Brunswick and Topsham, triggering about 15 crashes along Interstate 295 before 9 a.m. and coating roads on both the northbound and southbound sides with snow.

Troopers responded to the crashes in the Brunswick area, with a few minor injuries reported. "Conditions changed quickly during the squall, which has since subsided," Department of Public Safety spokesperson Shannon Moss said in a statement around 10:30 a.m. No serious injuries were reported.

Maine State Police flagged the deteriorating conditions at about 7:45 a.m., when snow in Brunswick and Topsham was already causing problems on both sides of I-295. The ground in the Brunswick region was snow-covered, and residents reported more than 3 inches of accumulation in some spots. The National Weather Service had forecast 1 to 2 inches for the affected area, with localized amounts up to 4 inches possible, figures that aligned with what drivers encountered during the height of the squall.

The NWS office in Gray explained the event as ocean-effect snow caused by an onshore flow, when air moves in from the sea, followed by a cold front. The band stretched from Brunswick to Wiscasset and pushed inland into Androscoggin and Kennebec counties, with snow reaching as far as Waterville and flurries reported as far south as Portland. Communities across a wide swath of the Midcoast were affected, including Bath, West Bath, Bowdoin, Boothbay, Georgetown, Reid State Park, Popham Beach State Park, Bailey Island, and Orr's Island, among others.

The NWS issued a special weather statement at 10 a.m. covering all of Sagadahoc County and parts of Cumberland, Knox, Androscoggin and Kennebec counties, noting the snow would affect I-295 between mile markers 14 and 51, and I-95 between mile markers 76 and 131 and between 134 and 136. That statement was later lifted as the squall moved through.

The event arrived two days before the official start of spring. A school bus driver was photographed transporting students in Freeport during the midmorning snow band, a reminder that the squall reached well beyond the crash corridor on I-295.