A powerful April bomb cyclone with strong winds and heavy snow knocked out power to thousands of Mainers across the state and power providers said outages could last through Sunday evening due to the widespread nature of the storm damage.

More than 250,000 people lost power in the wake of the storm. As of Saturday morning, more than 150,000 were still without power.

"Last evening, we experienced a major snowstorm that impacted more than 200,000 of our customers, Central Maine Power CEO Dough Herling said on twitter Friday afternoon. "We are working under extreme conditions and using social distancing protocols to restore your power as fast as possible. But we need you to know this will be a multi-day event."

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Hospitals and other facilities on the front lines of the coronavirus outbreak were being given priority for power restoration, Maine Emergency Management officials told the Bangor Daily News.

Power crews from Central Maine Power and Emera had both implemented social distancing measures, such as riding in separate vehicles and avoiding contact with the public. Central Maine Power told the paper that those efforts could slow some of their response, but Emera representatives said that it would not.

The uniquely powerful storm for April packed a destructive combination, according to weather.com meteorologist Linda Lam.

"A very powerful low pressure system tracked near Maine into southeastern Canada Friday," said Lam. "This system brought strong winds and heavy, wet snow to parts of northern New England. The combination of gusty winds and heavy snow resulted in downed trees and powerlines."

The storm's central pressure, an indication of its intensity, reached near record levels for April. In the end, winds gusted over 30 mph at times and 21 inches of snow fell near Blanchard, Maine, in the central part of the state. It was the second most prolific April snow day in Caribou, Maine.

The thousands without power are dealing with cold temperatures throughout the weekend. Temperatures are expected to remain in the 30s and 40s Saturday before dropping into the 20s to lower 30s overnight. Temperatures will rise into the 40s and 50s in places for those still without power Sunday.

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