- Associated Press - Friday, December 30, 2016

The Latest on the winter storm in northern New England (all times local):

6:10 p.m.

Utility crews are making progress in restoring power, but tens of thousands of homes and businesses are still in the dark in Maine.

Emera Maine reported Friday evening that it had restored electricity for all but 4,900 of its customers. CMP had halved the number of outages, but 46,000 customers remained in the dark.

At the peak, more than 100,000 homes and businesses were without electricity after a powerful nor’easter clobbered Maine.

National Weather Service meteorologist Eric Schwibs says the storm was “turbocharged” with powerful bands of snow clobbering some areas with knee-deep snow while other places received mostly rain.

Big snow totals in Maine included 27 inches in Standish and Naples, 25 inches in Parsonsfield, and 22.7 inches in Hollis.

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4 p.m.

A mighty snowstorm has knocked down University of Maine’s domed artificial turf facility used by student-athletes.

Senior associate athletic director Will Biberstein says the air-supported structure collapsed from the weight of the snow early Friday. No one was inside at the time.

Biberstein says the university is figuring out what exactly was damaged and the next steps.

He says the dome last collapsed a decade ago during an early spring storm that featured particularly wet and heavy snow. The university repaired a small rupture on the structure’s west side.

Friday’s rupture has led the baseball team to postpone a planned youth clinic.

Fewer than 70,000 remaining power outages were reported by Friday afternoon after a peak of more than 100,000.

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11:45 a.m.

Maine’s largest utility says it’s going to take a “multiple-day” effort to restore power to tens of thousands of customers following a powerful winter storm.

Central Maine Power spokeswoman Gail Rice says the utility had crews from Maine, Quebec, New Brunswick, Connecticut and New York deployed ahead of the storm so they could get right to work.

But she said it’s still expected to be a “multiple-day recovery effort.”

All told, CMP and Emera Maine together had more than 100,000 customers in the dark as of Friday morning.

New Hampshire and Vermont also had plenty of snow but were largely spared from power outages. The power company Eversource said about 11,000 New Hampshire homes lost power, but most were restored by Friday morning.

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9:20 a.m.

A powerful winter storm has left more than 100,000 homes and businesses in the dark in Maine.

CMP was reporting nearly 98,000 power outages and Emera Maine was reporting more than 20,000 power outages Friday morning in the aftermath of a nor’easter that dumped heavy, wet snow in some places.

The National Weather Service says it received multiple reports of snow falling at a rate of 6 inches per hour Thursday night.

Powerful bands of snow clobbered some areas with knee-deep snow while other places just miles away received mostly rain.

National Weather Service meteorologist Eric Schwibs says the storm was “turbocharged.” Big snow totals in Maine included 27 inches in Standish and Naples, 25 inches in Parsonfield, and 22.7 inches in Hollis.

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1:02 a.m.

Northern New England is feeling the effects of a powerful nor’easter that’s dumping a foot or more of snow on some parts of the region.

The storm is expected to last through Friday.

Officials in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont warned residents Thursday to stay off the roads as the snow quickly piled up and snow plows struggled to keep up. Numerous crashes were reported and at least one fatality.

The National Weather Service says accumulations of a foot or more are expected inland, but a changeover to rain will reduce snowfall totals near the coast.

Ski areas, meanwhile, are cheering the dump of snow. Mount Snow in Vermont says it’s received more snow so far this year than it did in all of last season.

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