We have a lot of weather coming our way in the next 24 hours: A quick-moving storm, snow squalls, then arctic cold for Thursday.

Snow moves into western and central Maine during Tuesday evening. Most of the snow will be light to start, but with temperatures below freezing, roads could become slippery.

After midnight, it will start to get a bit heavier.

The heaviest precipitation will come during the pre-dawn and early-morning hours Wednesday.

Snow rates will be briefly intense, making for a very difficult morning commute. A change to rain will likely happen near the coast.

The off switch gets flipped and all precipitation shuts down in southern Maine by 9 a.m., noon for eastern Maine, and 3 p.m. for northern Maine.

As the precipitation ends, the temperatures will start to drop. In areas where rain mixes in, any standing water could ice over as it gets colder.

We’ll have several dry hours in the afternoon. But late in the day, an arctic cold front will come roaring in from the west.

A line of snow showers and squalls will be moving ahead of it, entering western Maine around 5 p.m., and crossing through the state during the evening.

Any squalls can drop a quick coating to 2 inches of snow, creating tough travel in a matter of minutes. Keep an eye out if you will be traveling during the evening. Behind this front, temperatures will drop into the single digits.

Snow totals: 2 to 4 inches near the coast where the snow is wetter or mixes with rain.  Four to 8 inches for the rest of Maine.  There will likely be some south-facing mountains that crank out upslope snow and get more than 8 inches.