We’re still looking at two rounds of winter weather this week. About five days ago, it looked like these two systems could consolidate into one bigger one, but since Thursday it’s been obvious that scenario probably wouldn’t play out.

Instead of one all encompassing snowfall forecast, we thought it would be better to break everything down into two separate ones, one for Tuesday and another for Wednesday.

FIRST: TUESDAY 

Light snow moves in during the morning. It’ll start before sunrise in western Maine, and move into eastern Maine during the morning.

Snow will continue through the morning commute, challenging drivers.  Then, mild air will begin to flow in off the ocean later in the morning and snow will transition to rain as it tapers off during the middle of the day and afternoon.

Outside of some drizzle or flurries, Tuesday evening and night should be pretty quiet with a lull in the action.

Most areas will see around 3 inches of snow Tuesday, perhaps less in parts of southern and eastern Maine. The mountains have a shot at up to 6 inches from this first round, where the snow will be light and fluffy.

SECOND: WEDNESDAY

A second storm will form early Wednesday morning, throwing heavier rain and snow back into Maine.

The track, directly over the Maine coastline, will keep mild air around, making it difficult to accumulate snow for a time Wednesday morning.

But as the storm strengthens, the atmosphere will get colder and snow accumulation will become more efficient, especially through the foothills, mountains and north.

There won’t be much additional snow at all near the coast, maybe only a slushy coating to 1 inch or so.

However, in the mountains and northern Maine, an additional 4 to 8 inches of snow is possible, which will push two-day totals into the double digits.