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Record Highs and an Ice Storm
December 11-12, 2008 |
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The
biggest ice storm to hit Maine and New Hampshire
since the Great Ice Storm of '98 knocked out power
to as many as 400,000 individuals and left 70%
(66,000 people) of York County without power.
Governor Baldacci declared a state of emergency
before the storm arrived, which enabled out of
state power crews to be deployed. During an interview
with WCSH, Steve Harding or the York County EMA
reported that hundreds of side roads in York County
and other major routes like 111, 109, 202, 114,
and 35 were closed due to downed trees or wires.
In the Shapleigh area, EMS was forced to take
people to New Hampshire hospitals due to road
closures. Regional dispatches were reported to
have problems keeping their phones and dispatch
centers powered. Emergency warming shelters were
set up across southern Maine for people without
power or heat. It took eight days for all affected
customers to be back on-line. We were without
power for two days even here in South Portland.
This event was the result of very strong cold
air damming and a large amount of QPF (amount
of precipitation) in a short period. In all large
ice storms, you must have a source of cold air
which is capable of overcoming the latent energy
released when the super-cooled water finally freezes.
In this case, the source of the cold was a relatively
deep cold flow from the north. We eventually went
over to rain in South Portland as temperatures
rose, but there were many areas across the interior
(especially New Hampshire) which got close to
an inch of ice accretion. We ended up with just
over ½ inch of ice here.
Strangely, this event was surrounded by days of
record warmth- one before and two after! On the
10th of December the temperature reached 58°,
a new record. On both the 15th and 16th of December
it warmed to 56°! A very wild stretch of weather
and hopefully not an indication of a future mode
of precipitation with a warming Earth.
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A
January Thaw
January 8-9, 2008 |
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This
event features two days of record warmth in Portland.
One on the 8th and the 9th of January, 2008. January
8th brought 61° and a new record. The 9th
brought 54° and tied the old record set in
1978. The warm air arrived on southwest winds,
thanks to a large area of high pressure. The location
and strength of the high was more like a summer
time Bermuda High, but its longevity was not long
enough to be considered such. The southwest winds
persisted for several days and many records were
set all over the eastern USA. Thunderstorms plagued
the Midwest during this time, at the intersection
of the warm and cold air masses. |
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Dramatic
Temperature Inversion
January 7, 2008 |
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An
interesting example of a temperature inversion
while skiing at Shawnee Peak in Bridgton, Maine.
While at Shawnee Peak for night skiing there was
a very noticeable change in temperature and winds
with height. We were travelling up the triple
chair to the top, along side the Main trail. While
ascending the mountain there was a transition
to very warm air- this occurred at about mid-way
up the Main trail where the woods end. While no
instrumentation was available, I estimate the
temperature to be 55 degrees. This is in comparison
to the cool air at the surface/base of the lift
of around 29 or 30 degrees. The trees were literally
dropping from condensation in the warm air as
they remained cool antecedently. The winds at
the surface were calm, but picked up substantially
at around mid-station of the triple chair- to
an estimated 30 mph at the top of the mountain.
There was another temperature transition at mid-station,
but this time it was downward- it was close to
20 at the top and when combined with the wind
made it feel very cold. So at the onset of this,
it was cool and calm at the surface, warm and
moist mid-way then cold and windy at the top of
the mountain.
After the night's skiing, the temperatures at
the parking lot were still cool, but interestingly
there were periodic bursts of very warm air. I
surmise this was the winds from aloft mixing the
warm layer with the cool layer at the ground.
This created a visible scintillation of light
sources due to the temperature (and thus diffractive
index) differences in the air.
This event preceded two days of record warmth
in Portland on the 8th and 9th of January, 2008.
January 8th brought 61° and the 9th brought
54°.
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New
Year's Eve Snow
December 31, 2007 |
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Pressure
falls of more than 8mb in three hours off Nantucket
as secondary low formed. Dry slot cut off steady
precipitation around 8pm in South Portland. Flurries
and a second round of light snow brought less
than one inch overnight. Many areas near Mexico
and China, Maine along with areas of Waldo County
received around a foot of snow. Portland, Falmouth
and many other areas along the coast south of
Casco Bay had surface temperatures right above
freezing, which resulted in lighter accumulations.
The computer models verified well and the dry
slot was clearly evident in both IR and WV images. |
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Spring
Is Named Well
April 2007 |
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April of 2007 will be remembered for quite a few
things. The temperature roller coaster in March
heralded the change from above average temperatures
to below average temperatures. In fact April of
2007 ended up to be a very snowy and stormy month.
Our snowfall started on the 4th of April, and
by midnight we had 6.1", which made it the
4th one of the top 10 snowiest days in Portland
for that date. But the storm continued, dropping
another 5.5" on the 5th. The storm total
snowfall of 11.6" makes it the 5th largest
snowfall in April since 1882. April for a month
received 15.1" of snow, making it the 7th
snowiest month in Portland to date.
But April of 2007 will not be remembered necessarily
for the snow, but mostly for the Patriot's Day
Storm of 2007. The National Center for Environmental
Prediction (NCEP) analyses of the storm show the
lowest pressure at 968mb on April 16th at 8am.
The lowest pressure of the "Perfect Storm,"
or the Halloween Storm of 1991, was 972mb on the
30th of October at 8am.
The Patriot's Day Storm of 2007 brought tremendous
amounts of water and wind. Some areas over York
county received close to 8 inches of rain from
the storm, the Portland JetPort received over
5 ½ inches of rain. Winds were a huge issue
with this storm, as the saturated ground does
little to hold the trees. Winds gusted to 61 mph
in Freeport and 59 mph in Portland. Unofficial
gusts from Cape Elizabeth measured the wind at
81 mph all while the tremendous amount of rain
overwhelmed the culverts and many roads were washed
out. At one point, 22 roads within 20 miles of
Westbrook were closed, according to the 511 service.
Route 302 was completely barricaded near the golf
driving range and Dunkin Donuts and National Guard
were at numerous other intersections on Route
302 north of the Presumpscot River. Washed out
roads meant travel to work was not only dangerous
but also impossible for some people. The Crooked
River in Naples was so swollen with storm run-off
that it actually raised the level of the water
on the Sebago side of the Songo Lock so high that
the Songo River actually flowed backward. The
Songo River carries the water from Long Lake and
Brandy Pond toward Sebago Lake, but a lock is
needed in the middle to enable boat traffic and
to control lake levels. The water normally flows
from near the causeway in Naples toward Sebago
Lake. But this day the river was actually flowing
toward Naples. People in this favored fishing
spot indicated that the trout had just been stocked
near the confluence of the Crooked and Songo rivers.
But since the water was actually flowing the other
way with the lock wide open on both ends, it looks
like we'll have some good fishing in Long Lake
this summer.
Along the coast, the buoys in the Gulf of Maine
just 12 miles offshore showed wave heights of
31.5 feet before they stopped transmitting for
a time. The big issue that doomed the ocean beachfronts
was not just the huge waves, but that they arrived
during a time of strong east winds and astronomical
high tides. The strong east winds pile the water
up along the shore. The astronomical high tides
made the tides three feet higher than normal.
So the combination of the two were a knock-out
punch for numerous homes along the Maine coast.
Numerous navigational buoys were torn from their
moorings. The Coast Guard flew extra flights over
the Gulf of Maine to transmit the weather information
to those who may have been out of VHF range. I
suppose to prevent another Andrea Gail. The computer
models showed the potential for this storm many
days before, so preparations were aided and people
had more time to prepare. Governor Baldacci issued
a State of Emergency declaration that started
at midnight before the storm's main punch arrived.
Close to 130,000 customers were without power,
and with a 2.3 people per household ratio, that
is about 300,000 people in the dark, or about
25% of Maine's population.
Then after all the kerfuffle around the storm,
things quieted down for several days. But then
the roller coaster we call Spring was back...
and Portland broke a record for the warmest April
23rd temperature- a record 81°. The day was
also the warmest on average, with the maximum
and minimum averaging out to 65°. April 23rd
was the warmest day in 7 months in Portland.
The one last thing that people will remember about
April of 2007 is the amazing end to the ski season!
Sugarloaf got 95 inches of snow in April alone
and closed for the season with 20-40" base
depth, 112 trails open, 49.64 miles and 558 open
acres of skiing. Sunday River and Sugarloaf closed
on the 29th of April… I got my last runs
of the year in on the 25th- the latest I've ever
skied in Maine.
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A
Temperature Roller Coaster
March 6-17, 2007 |
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The first part of March started off like a
lion with Portland receiving 5.5" of snow
with wind gusts over 35 mph. The departing storm
then brought in some of the coldest March air
in quite some time with many records set at
the Portland JetPort.
The afternoon of the 6th, the temperature only
got to 18°, which is the coldest high temperature
ever recorded on the 6th. The average daily
temperature ((high-low)/2) was only 9° -
another record.
On the morning of the 7th, the mercury dropped
to a record -6°, breaking the old record
of -3° set in 1989. The daily maximum temperature
on the 7th was also18°, again a record for
the day. The 7th's daily average temperature
was a cold 6°, a broken record for the day
which was also set in 1989.
The 8th of March continued to break records
for cold. The high for the day was only 19°,
the low 0° and the average temperature was
only 10°.
After a three day stretch of record breaking
cold, a very warm day gave a tease of the coming
of Spring. On the 14th of March Portland made
it up to 59°. That itself is not a record-
but the low for the day was 41°- 1 degree
warmer than the old record set in 1946.
It was even warmer to the interior of Maine
and New Hampshire. Concord, NH made it up to
74° on the 14th. Closer to home, Sanford
hit 70°. An amazing swing in temperatures
in just a few days. The warmth was short-lived
as just two days later the cold was back.
Concord, NH set a daily record daily snowfall
at 8.8" on the 16th. So from 74° to
8.8" of snow in two days.
Portland went from 59° to 7" of snow
in those same two days. Bridgton went from 66°
to over 10" of snow.
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An
Inverted Trough and Return to Reality
January 22, 2007 |
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Just
two weeks after all-time January record high temperatures,
winter returned to Maine as wind chills dropped
to below zero readings in the weekend leading
up to Monday the 22nd. There were indications
that snow showers would occur during the afternoon
but most of us were caught off guard by the magnitude
of the event. Light snow started to fall around
noon on Monday and continued through the day.
All indications were that this event would be
short lived, resulting in just a dusting of snow
in Portland. The snow was extremely light and
fluffy and thus piled up quickly. Snow finally
tapered off in the early morning hours of Tuesday,
but not before dumping close to half a foot of
snow in the Portland area. The snow totals of
5 to 6 inches in Portland came on only .12"
of liquid equivalent- or a snow ratio of almost
40 to 1! Typically here in Portland we are talking
about ratios of 10 to 1. In the winter sleet storm
the week prior, the ratios were close to just
2 to 1. The event was caused by another Norlun
trough, a colloquial name for an inverted trough.
In an inverted trough here in northern New England,
the winds will be blowing from a generally easterly
direction. A normal trough results in westerly
winds here in Portland. The wind direction is
of ultimate importance, because the east winds
bring in moisture in from the Gulf of Maine; the
magnitude of the event was exacerbated by the
ocean water temperatures, which were close to
2 degrees above normal. The ocean surface is much
smoother than the land across southern Maine.
That means the wind slows down as it crosses from
the ocean to the land. This creates a zone of
convergence, resulting in rising motion of the
air. The air coming off the Gulf of Maine is quite
moist. So as the moist air rises, clouds and snow
results. The trough did not really move very far
over the day, so the accumulations were focused
on a bulls eye around greater Portland. These
events are very hard to predict, especially given
the relatively sparse data in the Gulf of Maine-
the Norlun trough is a surface feature and thus
can really be only diagnosed by surface observations.
the GoMOOS network helps, but much more density
of observation is needed for us to properly prognosticate
these events. |
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More
Warm Weather Records Fall
January 6, 2007 |
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Thermometers
soared to record levels on the Saturday most will
remember as the quintessence of Winter 2006/2007.
The interesting thing about this event is that
the record high temperature was broken at 7am
in the morning. We reached 67° in the
afternoon, smashing the old record by 14°!
The old record for the maximum daily high temperature
was 53°, set back in 1949. This was also the
warmest day ever recorded in January in Portland.
The day was warm from end to end, with the Portland
JetPort recording a new record warmest low temperature
of 48°. This also ties 1950 as first place
for warmest low temperature for a day ever recorded
in January in Portland. If you average the high
and low temperature, you get the daily average
temperature. And Portland broke that record too!
We set several new average temperature records:
1) Daily average temperature for today's date
was 43° and the normal is 22° - the new
record is an astounding 58°; 2) Warmest daily
average temperature for any day in January- the
old record was 56° on January 4th, the new
record is the 58°.
Another very interesting part of this event is
that when compared to the climate normals, the
daily average temperature from this day exceeded
the running average by more than any other record...
We exceeded the normal daily average by 36°!
The old record for this was set back in January
4, 1950 when our daily average temperature exceeded
the average by 33°.
Rain showers were falling in the morning and then
the occlusion came on through the area. This resulted
in high dewpoints across the area (into the 50s!)
and when the breaks of sun arrived behind the
front, the temperatures soared. Clearing arrived
in the Portland area and held through until the
'cold' front came through that evening. Many areas
were still into the 60s (with isolated low 70s)
and the frontal passage kicked up some low-topped
thunderstorms. There were reports of downed trees
in Coos County in New Hampshire and gusts to about
50 mph in the Oxford Hills. Portland had mostly
just a quick shot of heavy rain. These storms
triggered the EAS with Severe Thunderstorm Warnings
issued for Oxford, Franklin, Somerset and a few
other counties. So not only was this day more
summer-like than winter-like insofar as temperatures,
but to have a severe thunderstorm warning in Maine
in January makes this up to now a rare event.
Side note: Just two days later, areas like Fryeburg
and Berlin, NH who were in the low to mid 60s
got several inches of snow. This is a change from
temperatures in the 60s to snow in just over 36
hours. |
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A
Record Warm Year
January to December, 2006 |
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Mackworth Island at September's
End
2006 was the
warmest year on record in Portland, with the
year beating the old record by 0.2°. The
new record is 48.5°.
January
kicked off the year on a very warm note, coming
in at 8.6° above normal. Many local golf
courses in southern Maine opened, allowing eager
golfers to work on their game in the off season.
January had 2 days with a thunderstorm, 11 days
with light snow, 6 days with rain 18 days with
fog, and was below average in rainfall by 0.38".
We got between 4 and 7 inches of snow in Maine's
lake region. Of note was a storm at the end
of the month which flooded portions of Portland.
Traffic was apparently stopped on Marginal Way
in Portland due to flooding and seawalls at
Kennebunk, Middle and Gooches beaches were damaged.
20 feet of pavement from Surf Street were washed
away.
February
was a month with 9 days of light snow, 5 days
of rain and 11 days of fog. The month's precipitation
rounded out at 0.39" below average. No
thunderstorms were reported. February ended
up 1° above normal. We got between 6 and
12 inches of snow around the 12th. 6 to 8 inches
of snow affected York county on the 26th. The
17th of the month brought high winds in excess
of 60 mph, causing over $125K in damage. More
than 100,000 people were left without power.
March of
2006 was a dry month with a rainfall deficit
of 3.12" and no thunderstorms. The month
was above average by 0.8° and had 3 days
with snow, 5 days with rain and 7 days with
fog.
April was
also a dry month with Portland receiving 1.24"
less rain than average. There was one day with
a thunderstorm, 2 days with snow, 11 days with
rain and 11 days with fog. April was 2°
above average. On the 4th, the mountains picked
up between 6 and 10 inches of snow.
May was
a very wet month with Portland receiving 8.52"
more rain than average, or 12.34" of rain
in the one month alone. The greatest 24-hour
rainfall in this month was 3.57" rain received
between the 2nd and 3rd. On the 12th of May,
high surf and astronomical high tides flooded
portions of the Maine coast, resulting in $400K
in damage. The month was 0.8° above normal.
May had two days with thunderstorms, 22 days
with rain and 18 days with fog. No snow was
reported. The thunderstorms in interior Maine
on the 31st dropped one-inch hail in Rangeley.
June had
2 days with thunderstorms, no days with snow
and 17 days with rain. It was a foggy month
with 22 days having fog. The month ended 2.1°
warmer than average and much wetter than average.
Portland in June received 5.9" of rain
over the average, making it a very wet month.
Several area rivers like the Swift River at
Roxbury and the Kennebec rivers reached flood
stage. Thunderstorms dropped large hail in North
Windham on the 1st, in Dixfield, Oxford, Auburn,
Falmouth, Shapleigh and Gorham on the 19th and
20th. A person was killed in Fryeburg by a falling
tree and route 302 was closed due to downed
trees and limbs. IN New Sweden, winds exceeded
70 mph and a yard umbrella was driven through
the windshield of a car. Another thunderstorm
near Augusta brought more large hail to that
area on the 30th. A lightning strike on the
1st of June caused $40K damage to a house in
York.
July was
a warm and foggy month with 4 days of thunderstorms;
one of these thunderstorms flooded portions
of route 232 in Bryant Pond. Another created
a funnel cloud near Warren, Maine. A total of
12 days in July had rain, 21 days had fog and
there was no snow reported. The month was 2.33"
above average in rainfall and 3.3° above
average in temperature. July's average of 72°
is one of the warmest months ever recorded in
Portland. Thunderstorms brought high winds to
the area on the 18th and again on the 28th.
August of
2006 had 3 days with thunderstorms, 11 days
with rain and 14 days with fog. The month was
0.67" below average in rainfall and was
the only month of the year that ended up below
average for the month. August was 0.3° below
normal. There was no snow reported in August.
A house in Falmouth was destroyed after being
indirectly struck by lightning and high winds
came to the area thanks to thunderstorms on
the 2nd.
September
ended up being 1.6° above average in temperature
and 0.20" above average in rainfall. There
were 2 days with thunderstorms, 16 days with
rain, 17 days with fog and it was snow less.
October was
a wet month, ending up 3.98" above average
in rainfall. It was also warmer than average,
ending up 1.3° above the average. There
were 2 days with thunderstorms, 14 days with
rain and 13 days with fog. There was no snow
reported in October for Portland.
November
was the warmest November on record, coming in
at 5.5° above normal. There were 12 days
with rain, 16 days with fog and no days with
snow or thunderstorms. The month was 0.78"
above normal for rainfall.
December
rounded out 2006 as a warm month in a warm year.
December was 6.9° above average, although
not a record it cemented 2006 as a record warm
year. December had 5 days with snow, 8 days
with rain and 14 days with fog. There were no
thunderstorms and the month ended up drier than
average at 0.88" below average.
There were 182 out of 365 days with fog, so
one-half the year featured fog at some point
during the day. 18 days featured thunderstorms,
with 2 in the winter month of January. There
was a tornado in North Berwick and another right
down in Hampton, NH. Microburst winds snapped
trees out in Somerville and high surf washed
out roads near Saco. Extremely high seas and
a rogue wave swamped boats and took away the
lives of a few fishermen. The year of 2006,
like 2005, was a year with a wet spring and
first part of summer. But the summers of both
years ended up being quite spectacular with
summer-like temperatures and weather persisting
well into September. There was no lake ice in
southern Maine as of the last day of December
2006, and the ice to start the year was thin
and late, with an early ice-out.
Temperature records go back to 1941, when the
Portland readings were moved to the Jetport.
Temperature averages are based on the 1971-2000
climate normals. Precipitation records go back
to 1871.
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A
Foggy Start to Fall
October 3-6, 2005 |
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Portland International
Jetport from I-295
A thick fog rolled into Portland and other
coastal communities reducing visibilities and
knocking down temperatures. Fog stuck thick
during most hours of the day right here along
the coast. Interior areas were treated to almost
full sun and summer-like weather conditions.
During attendance of the Fryeburg fair on Wednesday
the 5th, we were treated to summer-like temperatures
of 80 degrees and full sun. Upon returning to
South Portland, we had drizzle and 55 degrees.
Whenever the fog was blanketing Portland, the
temperatures were right around 55 degrees, approximately
the same temperature as the ocean water in Casco
Bay. On the 7th, there were only 7 hours of
the day that did not have fog; of those 7 hours
without fog being reported at the ASOS, 4 had
haze. So of the 24 hours of the day, only 3
were without obscuration.
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Thunderstorms
and Urban Flooding
June 10, 2005 |
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An
unusally warm and muggy airmass provided plenty
of moisture and energy for some strong thunderstorms
that left parts of Portland, Maine under water.
The day started with temperatures and dew points
around 70 degrees. The boundary layer was very
moist and outside of an inversion or 'cap' aloft,
every indication was that this day would bring
weather of interest. A sea breeze did develop
in the afternoon, but it never got very far inland.
Temperatures in Cape Elizabeth were about eight
degrees (F) lower than here in South Portland,
with South Portland reaching the 83°F mark.
There appeared to be a large amount of 'training'
going on again in New Hampshire, where storms
the day prior left almost 5 inches of rain in
some places like Canaan. The 'cap' kept a lid
on most of the convection in Portland, but the
mountains provided the necessary break to allow
for air to rise and form thunderstorms.
In downtown Portland heavy rain caused water to
back-up onto and flood Commercial street. Several
parts of high street were washed out, closing
it to traffic.
Commercial Street in Portland,
Maine
Close-up of Commercial Street
Flooding
Water flowing out of manholes on the Eastern Prom
Lightning near Bug Light in South Portland
MPEG-4
Movie of the storm
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Spring
Arrives
March 20, 2005 |
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Spring
arrives today at 7:33 AM (EST).
Well you wouldn't know it by looking out your
back door, but spring officially arrives today!
The current snowfall estimates for greater Portland
show about 2 feet on the ground in the City and
about 3 feet in the Northern suburbs! It looks
to be quite some time before we see the daffodils. |
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More
March Maine Snow
March 12, 2005 |
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A
complex low-pressure system brought more snow
to an already blanketed Maine. A slow-moving Norlun-type
trough brought as much as 18 inches of snow to
southern Maine. This Norlun trough is also know
as a Northern New England Inverted Trough. These
events bring a snowfall that usually exceed HPC
guidance. The precipitation that falls from these
systems is convective in nature and usually comes
in bands off the ocean; the heavy snow bands roughly
aligned with the trough axis in this event. These
events present difficulty for snowfall total forecasting
due to its convective nature. Convective systems
in the summer can leave a half-inch of rain in
one place and nothing at all 20 miles away; winter
convective systems can sometimes bring thunder
and lightning. This winter featured several "Thundersnow"
events, but no known occurrences during this storm.
The persistent southeast winds brought much snow
over the foothills and mountains as the elevation
gave some extra lift to the air at the surface;
this extra lift results in enhanced snowfall totals
in these areas. This event was interesting in
many ways. One thing I did notice in the surface
observations over PA during the evolution of this
event was a fairly long line of weak but opposed
winds. This will be an interesting case from which
to judge future events for sure.
Portland
Gets Over 100 Inches of Snow for the Season
with the Recent Snow:
3/12/05 |
| 18
in |
Gorham |
| 15.9
in |
Bridgton |
| 12
in |
Portland
North |
| 11
in |
South
Portland |
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A
Gulf of Maine Bomb
March 8, 2005 |
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March
brings a renewed blast of winter to Maine. A storm
that rapidly intensified in the Gulf of Maine
brought heavy snow to the interior sections of
Maine on the 8th. A relatively unimpressive storm
as it approached rapidly gained intensity as it
passed right up the Maine coast. The immediate
coast had a heavy Ice Pellet event which limited
accumulation amounts; inland, however got much
more accumulation as the storm brought mostly
snow.
More
Snow for Maine
3/8/05 |
| >
2 ft |
Aroostook
County |
| 17
in |
Hartford |
| 12
in |
Bridgton
Windham |
| 5
in |
South
Portland |
In addition to the snowfall, this storm brought
high winds to the Portland area as it departed.
A tight pressure gradient set up over northern
New England which brought very gusty winds to
Southern Maine.
Strong
Winds in Southern Maine
3/9/05 |
53
mph (gust)
31 mph (10-min)
|
Portland
(PWM)
(12:51am gust) |
| 49
mph |
Lewiston
(LEW) |
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A
Classic Winter Cold Snap and Blizzard
January 21-23, 2005 |
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After a relatively mild January across most
of the East, record-cold air poured in from
Canada fueling a strong storm and reducing windchills
to dangerous levels.
Bangor, Maine reported a record -29°F on
January 22nd, which broke the previous record
of -28°F set in 1934; -29°F is also
the lowest temperature ever recorded at Bangor
for the whole month of January. Other areas
of Maine experienced extreme cold, a summary
is below:
Winter
Cold Snap
1/22/05 |
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-29°F*
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Bangor (BGR)
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-28°F
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Fryeburg (IZG)
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-13°F
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Portland (PWM)
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-14°F
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S. Portland (WeatherMaine)
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1/21/05
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-24°F
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Bangor
(BGR)
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-7°F
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Portland (PWM)
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The National Weather Service issued Blizzard
warnings over the coastal regions of Maine and
Hurricane Force wind warnings over the coastal
waters. Over a foot of snow fell in most of
southern Maine, with mostly around a foot of
accumulation. Localized ocean-effect snow bands,
occurring right before onset of widespread precipitation,
created higher snow totals in some areas of
Cape Elizabeth and Scarborough. The deflection
zone of the storm was positioned south west
of our area; the areas affected by this area
of precipitation enhancement received in excess
of 3 feet of snow. The extreme cold meant high
liquid-to-snow ratios, resulting in a light,
fluffy snowfall.
The winds presented additional problems for
a wide area of the Northeast. Very strong winds
and the powdery snow worked together to undermine
the efforts of road crews everywhere. White-out
conditions and slippery roads kept all but the
most intrepid inside watching the New England
Patriots beat up on the Pittsburg Steelers,
securing themselves a place in another Superbowl.
High winds created special problems for parking
garage owners in Portland. The high winds brought
snow into the parking garages, creating very
slippery conditions from the lack of road salt
(concrete).
Some of the high wind speeds from this event
are listed below:
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Maximum
Wind Speeds
1/23/05
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83 mph
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Nantucket, MA |
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65 mph
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Cape Elizabeth |
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47 mph
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Portland (PWM) |
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A
Moderate Ice Storm
December 7-8, 2004 |
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Mainers awoke on the 8th to some serious ice accumulation.
During the night, power outages were common over
many areas of Cumberland County. And it was not
the morning to sleep-in either, as the overnight
freezing rain coated most cars with a thick layer
of scraper-breaking ice. The ice also made any
walking surface not either sanded or salted virtually
impassable.
After the ice accretion, the temperatures rose
above freezing during the daytime heating. The
Sun's radiation combined with the warm air-temperatures
resulted in an interesting melt where the sky
was clear but the trees made it seem like it was
raining.
For the Portland area, this is the 3rd winter
storm of this season. The one prior left about
3.5" of snow at WeatherMaine in South Portland,
Maine. |
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First
Snow of the Season
November 14, 2004 |
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The first snow of the 2004/2005 Winter season
fell with not much more than a wimper, in Maine
at least. Like most of the late-season storms
last Winter, this storm was held to the south
by a High Pressure system nosing down from the
Candian Maritimes. The cold air being brought
down from Canada made it sufficently cold in
southern New England to give some areas in excess
of 6 inches of snow. The dome of cold air also
worked to keep the storm track south of Maine,
resulting in only minimal snow fall totals in
the Pine Tree State.
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Sox
Win!
October 27, 2004 |
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After
86 years, the Boston Red Sox are World Champions!
The 86-year championship drought for the Sox was
capped off under the reddish hue of a Lunar eclipse.
The weather played a role in the whole post-season,
the most notable being a rain-out against the
Yankees that put life back into the beleaguered
sox. |
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Heavy
Rain Marks A Change In Airmass And Breaks A Record
August 21, 2004 |
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Warm, muggy air sat over the Northeast for
most of this week. While temperatures were not
unusually high, the dewpoints were. Dewpoint
temperatures in the upper 60s °F made for
very sticky air and also meant that there was
plenty of available moisture in the air for
rainfall. An approaching cold front was the
trigger for a potent line of Thunderstorms that
moved through the Portland area at around 2:30pm.
This line of storms resulted in the highest
rain rate yet recorded at WeatherMaine in South
Portland. The rain rate at 3:00pm was an amazing
12.52" per hour. In just 10 minutes, WeatherMaine's
rain sensor recorded 0.40" of rain! Below
is the matrix of the rainfall rates and 10-minute
totals for this event.
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Time
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10min Rainfall
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Rain Rate
(in/hr)
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2:40pm
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0.02"
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0.53
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2:50pm
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0.11"
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6.26
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3:00pm
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0.40"
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12.52
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3:10pm
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0.16"
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1.92
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3:20pm
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0.01"
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0.35
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3:30pm
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0.00"
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0.05
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3:40pm
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0.01"
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0.05
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In addition, a new record was set in Portland
during this event:
...RECORD DAILY MAXIMUM RAINFALL
SET AT PORTLAND...
A RECORD RAINFALL OF 1.63 INCHES
WAS SET AT THE PORTLAND
INTERNATIONAL JETPORT YESTERDAY. THIS BREAKS
THE OLD RECORD OF 1.42
SET IN 1991.
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A
Funnel Cloud In Southern Maine
August 20, 2004 |
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PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAY ME
700 PM EDT FRI AUG 20 2004
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..TIME...
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...EVENT...
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...CITY
LOCATION...
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...LAT.LON...
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..DATE...
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....MAG....
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..COUNTY
LOCATION...ST..
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...SOURCE....
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0404
PM
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FUNNEL
CLOUD
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SANFORD
AIRPORT
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NOT AVBL
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08/13/2004
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YORK
ME
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SPOTTER
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A
Taste Of Summer, But No Record
June 9, 2004 |
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A very warm day set in for virtually all of
the Northeast. Although very warm today, we
did not break the old record; the record high
temperature in Portland for this date is 95°F,
set in 1984. Yesterday was similar to today
inland, but significantly cooler at the coast.
Evidence of the seabreeze yesterday: Sanford
had a high temperature some 15 degrees F warmer
than Portland's high reading.
NWS PWM ASOS High Temp Today:
92°F
WeatherMaine's High Temp Today:
Sensor 1: 93.6°F
Sensor 2: 91.0 °F
A strong high pressure ridge and off-shore winds
helped Portland and other coastal areas of Maine
surge into the 80's and 90's. The offshore winds
kept the seabreeze at bay; pre-cold front veering
of the winds helped to keep the winds offshore
Several locations in southern Oxford county
in Maine reported wind damage from the first
line of thunderstorms that developed in the
unstable air ahead of the front, likely due
to daytime heating (solar insolation). A second
line of storms is likely to follow the first
as the Cold Front and associated dynamics approach
the area.
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Record-Breaking
Heat
and Spring Thunderstorms
May 15, 2004 |
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Record heat set in for much of Northern New
England on the heels of southwest winds. The
morning started with foggy and cool conditions,
but the strong Spring sun quickly warmed the
temperatures. Both Portland and Bangor shattered
their previous high-temperature records by several
degrees. Other regional temperatures of note:
Fryeburg, 92°F; Harrison, 93°F (unofficial).
| Location |
New Record
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Old Record
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| Portland |
85°F
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80°F in 1957
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| Bangor |
85°F
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78°F in 1954
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The afternoon heating and an approaching cold
front primed the air for some decent Thunderstorms.
The line of storms looked unimpressive on radar
imagery, but the storms quickly grew in intensity
as they traversed York and Cumberland counties.
WeatherMaine was on the Western Promenade in
Portland, Maine to record the oncoming storms
to the West of Portland. See the images and
movies below!
Slow-motion sequence of Lightning:
634KB
WMV
Full-speed sequence of four strikes:
1.5MB
WMV
Individual Images:
1
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Another
Bout Of Record Cold
January 14, 2004 |
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Another day of brutal cold sat over northern
New England. Record cold high temperatures were
seen over much of the area; the only exception
being Northern Maine where extreme cold is more
common. Notable records for lowest daily high
temperature set today include:
Portland, Maine
1°F (previous record 4°F)
Concord, NH
0°F (previous record 4°F)
Bangor, Maine
-6°F (tied record set in 1965)
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Another
Arctic Air Outbreak
January 13, 2004 |
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Trailing Edge of
Squall Line
Winter weather returned with a vengeance on the
heels of a distinct and vigorous squall line.
A temporary warm-up from the recent record
cold was interrupted in the afternoon by a
very strong squall line that passed through the
Portland area starting at around 2:30pm. The Dew
Point at 2:30pm at WeatherMaine was 30°F
ahead of the squall line. A rapid drop in dew
point was observed at WeatherMaine's South Portland,
Maine location. By 6:30pm had already dropped
to -6°F! That is a 36° drop in 4 hours,
or 9°F per hour! A marked temperature drop
was also observed, dropping from 32°F to half
of its value,16°F, at 6:30pm. Visibility on
I-295 was reduced to almost nil during the onset
of the squall. As typical of most squall lines,
this one was distinct and brought with it heavy
snow bursts and strong winds; 26 mph wind from
the NW was observed at WeatherMaine for many hours
following frontal passage. Even more impressive
is the drop in temperature after the frontal passage.
The temperature at WeatherMaine at 2:20pm on 1/13/04
was a relatively warm 37.5°F, but at 2:20am
on the 15th the temperature had dropped to -5.4°F,
a change of over 42°F in 12 hours! This is
the most intense 12-hour temperature change noted
at WeatherMaine is its history.
More record cold and extreme windchills are expected
for the next few days in Maine. |
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Record
Cold Hits Maine
January 9, 2004 |
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The
Mercury in Maine barely managed to move during
the day today as a result of an arctic high pressure
system- the first real arctic outbreak of the
season to hit Maine. Portland, Maine set a new
record with a high temperature of 6°F. This
breaks the old record for lowest high daily temperature
on this date. |
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Wild
December Weather
December 26, 2003 |
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December, 2003 has kept our shovels busy and
our rivers running high. Several large winter
storms dropped as much as 5 feet of snow in
one week over much of the interior of Maine.
This remarkable snowfall, however, has been
eroded away by several large rain storms. The
overall weather patterns in December featured
two predominant storm tracks. The first being
the classic Noreaster track, with upper-level
energy swinging into the Southeast spawning
a coastal low which then moves up the coast
toward New England. The second being a 'warm
track' which featured two major storms tracking
through western New York. This pattern eventually
brings warm air in at all levels of the atmosphere.
Freezing rain occurs often with this track due
to cold air damming. The result of the two major
snowstorms staggered with two major rain storms
is major flooding. Canton, Maine was overwhelmed
with river water after the tremendous snowpack
melted under warmer temperatures and rain water.
The relatively thin river ice sheets were broken
up and caused many ice jams around the region,
including Farmington, Maine and Plymouth, New
Hampshire. Several students' cars at PSU were
flooded out and severely damaged by the Pemigewasset
river.
The contrast between Christmas weather this
year and Christmas last year is quite interesting.
Last year, of course, was the December Blizzard-
at WeatherMaine in South Portland, over 19 inches
of snow was received during this event. This
year's weather was that of rain and fog, a far-cry
from the digging out of last year. The fog during
Christmas eve night was very thick, and was
the result of warm, moist air moving over our
snowpack. The cold surface snow and ice cools
the air near the surface. Since the amount of
water the air can hold depends directly on its
temperature, colder air can hold less water.
As the air cools near the ground, it becomes
saturated- like a towel than can hold no more
water. This results in fog. There are complex
processes involved with fog over snow, but it
is mostly seen during 'warm track' storms in
the winter.
Time
Lapse of DEC 15, 2003 14" Snow Storm
(922K
WMV | 640K
MP4)
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A
Major Early-Season Snow Storm
December 8, 2003
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The
Winter snow season got off to a strong start with
a major East-coast 'Nor-Easter'. This storm impacted
many parts of the United States East Coast, bringing
snow from the Mid-Atlantic states into Canada.
This storm was a classic example of a true Nor-Easter
with secondary redevelopment. Media outlets gave
the term 'One-Two Punch' to this storm, since
it brought snow in two distinct intervals. The
primary storm dipped into the Gulf-Coast region
and had good upper-level support. The primary
storm brought an early snow to our Nation's capital,
while the secondary storm brought snow to the
Northeast. This storm was occluded by the time
it reached New England. Occluded lows occur when
the Cold front 'reaches' the Warm front, resulting
in a relatively homogeneous environment and limited
frontal dynamics. This can also be called a Neutral
Occlusion. This resulted in the moisture and upper-level
dynamics (Jet Streaks) being displaced to the
East of Maine. This limited the snowfall totals
along the coastal regions. The interior regions
of Maine had enhanced snowfall due to the location
of the 'deformation zone' and to Upslope flow.
The Deformation zone is defined as 'The change
in shape of a fluid mass by spatial variations
in the velocity field, specifically by stretching
or shearing.' The upslope winds are winds that
blow over terrain of increasing height. This results
in oragraphic lifting and essentially 'squeezes'
water out of the air, resulting in enhanced precipitation
amounts. This Nor-easter had a fairly well-defined
'eye' in the visible satellite imagery. Also of
note was a tropical system in the Atlantic (December
is not in "season" for tropical systems).
This tropical system was later absorbed by the
Westerlies in the trough from which this storm
got its upper-level support.
Snow fall totals over the region were extremely
variable. Here in South Portland (Coastal Cumberland
County- zone 24), we only got about one foot of
snow, while Bridgton (Interior Cumberland- zone
19) officially got 32.1 inches of snow! The jackpot
of snow in this storm was located in the Mountainous
regions of Maine and New Hampshire. Rangely, Maine
got 41.0 inches of snow, while Pinkham Notch in
New Hampshire got 52 inches of snow in this one
storm! Also of note with this storm is strong
winds. Mount Desert Rock reported a wind gust
of 82 mph! |
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Major
X-Class Solar Flares Erupt
October 28, 2003 |
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A
very active solar region with a complex sunspot
pattern erupted this (EST) morning. The flare
was registered by the GOES12 satellite at the
X17 level, making it an S4 on the SEC's Space
Weather scale. The active region was positioned
perfectly near the Sun's central meridian at the
time of eruption. The position of the region on
the face of the Sun means that any material ejected,
a CME, is likely coming right at the Earth. The
material ejected is part of the Sun's corona and
is really a giant cloud of magnetized plasma;
plasma is the 'fourth state' of matter (solid,
liquid, gas, plasma) and consists of ions. The
plasma acts like a giant liquid magnet, with truly
awesome power. When this giant magnetic cloud
interacts with the Earth's magnetic field, several
side effects can be witnessed. If the magnetic
orientation of the cloud is the opposite of the
Earth's own magnetic field, then severe impacts
on the surface of the Earth can be felt. This
flare is one of the largest of the current solar
cycle, and past events of this magnitude have
resulted in severe geomagnetic activity. Even
though the D-region absorption from the x-rays
is mostly over after the flare is over, the protons
and electrons emitted by the eruption are causing
the polar regions to absorb radio waves. The SEC
has issued an A-index greater than 100 warning,
meaning they expect severe geomagnetic storming
from this event. It is interesting to note that
this flare was rated at the maximum levels for
both visual area and brightness, rating: 4B.
Addenda: Only a few days after the X17 flare erupted,
the same active region produced an X10 flare with
associated halo CME. The result of these flares
was a severe period of storming for a couple of
days. Bright Aurora were seen in Portland, even
over the city lights. Faint aurora could be seen
to the North, with rays and curtains being the
predominant modes of presentation.
See
some Sun images of this event: Solar Flare Images |
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First
Snow Of The Season
October 23, 2003 |
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The
first snow of the upcoming Winter occurred today
at the Weather Maine observing location. Heat
flux from the warm soil prevented any accumulation
of snow, outside of a few spotty grassy areas
near the Portland and Westbrook line. The rain
of the night turned to snow at about 8:00a and
continued until around Noon, in South Portland.
Inland areas of Cumberland County reported around
2" of snow while the southern coastal zones
were spared of any real accumulation. |
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A
Strong Fall Storm Affects Maine
October 15, 2003 |
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The early morning hours of this date featured
the arrival of a strong Fall extra-tropical
storm. This storm was interesting for many reasons,
including strong winds and heavy rain. Downed
tree limbs were very common, and several trees
around Cumberland Country were reported down;
some across roads and many leaving residents
without power. School in several towns was canceled
as a result of the power outage and dangerous
winds. The morning commute hour coincided with
the arrival of the strongest winds from this
storm.
The official, NWS, rain observations from Portland
indicate that a new record was broken on this
date. The 24-hour rainfall record for Portland,
on this date, was 1.23" of rain in 24 hours,
set back in 1970. The official record text is
below:
RECORD EVENT
REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAY ME
442 PM EDT WED OCT 15 2003
...RECORD DAILY
MAXIMUM RAINFALL SET AT PORTLAND...
A RECORD RAINFALL
OF 1.63 INCHES WAS SET AT PORTLAND TODAY.
THIS
BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 1.23 SET IN 1970.
In addition to very heavy rainfall over the
region, a high-wind advisory was also in place
for much of the day. Some coastal areas experienced
high surf and very strong, tropical storm-force,
gusts. Some observations from Southern Maine
for maximum wind gusts during the morning of
Oct., 15th:
Wind Gusts Reported:
Cape Elizabeth: 62 mph
Gorham: 50 mph
Portland Jetport: 47 mph
Mount Washington: 113 mph
The strong winds also did much
to strip the trees of their leaves and needles.
Because this strong wind event occurred around
the time of the peak foliage, the season should
be shorter than usual- all leaves not securely
attached to the trees would easily be stripped
with strong winds. Also, drivers in the Northeast
should exercise caution when driving on wet,
leaf-covered roads, as several layers of leaves
can be as slippery as ice.
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First
Frost In South Portland, Maine
October 7, 2003 |
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Cold temperatures abound across the area today.
High pressure, clear skies and light winds all
contributed to bringing the first frost of the
season to south coastal Maine. WeatherMaine's
South Portland, Maine location had a morning
low of 30°F. Other areas inland from the
ocean had morning lows in the lower 20's °F,
which resulted in a freeze in several inland
areas. The overnight low in South Portland of
30°F is about 10 degrees Fahrenheit below
the average. On average, Portland has a trace
of snowfall by this date of the year.
Other low temperatures through the area:
Sanford: 25°F
Fryeburg: 23°F
Wiscasset: 29°F
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Fall
Weather Visits Maine
October 2, 2003 |
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Cooler
weather arrived on the heels of a strong cold
front swinging down from Canada. The cold front
passed by the South Portland weather sensors of
Weather Maine at around 5:30 PM on October 2,
2003; the time period (10 mins) of the lowest
barometric pressure was at 5:20PM on this date,
29.87" Hg. Barometric pressure typically
rises after frontal passage. Winds quickly turned
to the NW and became gusty. During the next half-hour
after frontal passage, there was a very brief
period of moderate rain with, interestingly, some
embedded thunder.
This cold front spells trouble for many agricultural
interests around Maine. The National Weather Service
in Gray, Maine issued a freeze warning for the
inland areas of Maine. A freeze warning is issued
when below-freezing temperatures during the growing
season are expected. Frost is expected to affect
most of Maine, outside of the coastal fringe areas.
Addenda: No frost was seen during this cold snap
at the South Portland, Maine location. |
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Autumn
Begins
September 23, 2003 |
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Autumn
Begins at 6:37AM EDT on
September 23, 2003. |
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Hurricane
Isabel Impacts The U.S.
September 19, 2003 |
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Isabel Eye Animation
Isabel was a category 5 hurricane for over 50
hours, longer than most; Isabel briefly slowed
to category 4 status for 12 hours on the 13th.
This powerful storm made landfall on the North
Carolina coast, causing Hatteras Island to become
inaccessible from road washout. Flooding was witnessed
as far north as Delaware. The storm came onshore
around 1PM EDT on Sept. 19th, very near the time
of high tide, which aggravated the coastal flooding.
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Bermuda
Braces For Hurricane Fabian
September 05, 2003 |
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Image Credit: Plymouth
State University
Hurricane Fabian, the 10th Tropical
system in the Atlantic basin of the 2003 season,
is poised to pass perilously close to Bermuda.
At 11AM EDT on this date, the National Hurricane
Center in Miami, Florida indicated the wind speed
of Fabian to be 105 knots, with higher gusts.
An additional threat from Hurricanes come in the
form of a Tornado. One of the signs of good news
for Bermuda at this time, is that the occurrence
of a Tornado is somewhat lower than most land-falling
Hurricanes.
Some data gathered in the past indicates that
the increase in surface roughness of winds over
land vs. winds over water causes added convergence,
leading to Tornadogenesis (to form a Tornado).
Since Bermuda is only 19 square miles, the relative
impact in Tonadogensis of surface roughness should
be small. The East wall of Fabian is expected
to track very closely to the island; the East
wall of a Hurricane is typically home to the strongest
winds and highest storm-surge. |
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Acorn
Drop
August 26, 2003 |
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South Portland Acorn
At the Weather Maine location in South Portland,
Maine, Oak trees appear to be dropping their
seeds earlier this year when compared to last
Fall. The date of the first noticeable acorn
drop last year was in the second week of September.
The date of the acorn drop at this location
is determined by the first early-morning audible
'roof drop' of the acorn sitting high above
the roof. The morning squirrel harvest is very
noticeable during this time, as the acorns can
be heard bouncing off the roof, window frames
and the parked cars- hopefully the relative
cornucopia of food for the squirrels will keep
them from digging up the lawn! The recent snap
of cool air direct from Canada may have triggered
this drop. Future occurrences of acorn drop
and temperature trends will be logged.
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A
Weekend Of Two Seasons
August 22-24, 2003 |
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After a day of record-tying heat, a synoptic-scale
weather pattern consisting of a large ridge
to the west and a large, high-amplitude negative-tilt
trough centered over the Notheast. The upper-air
winds were very strong for this time of year,
and this brought in some chilly temperatures
to most of Maine. The dewpoints on Friday were
close to 73°F (6:50pm 8/25/03 it was 73.8°F).
Once this blast of cool, dry air rolled into
Maine, the dewpoints dropped rapidly. By Sunday,
August 24, 2003, the dewpoint at Weather Maine
had dropped to a pretty dry 31.1°F! That
is a drop of over 40°F over one weekend!
A marked dewpoint drop is a sure sign of the
arrival of a new air mass.
The NWS (National Weather Service) issued frost
warnings for Northern Maine's weather zones
during this weekend, but there was no widespread
frost over our Southern Zones. Sanford did get
into the 30's on Saturday night, which after
the recent hot weather, is quite a shock to
the body. Welcome to sniffle season.
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Record-Tying
Heat
August 22, 2003 |
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Friday's weather featured very hot and very
humid weather. At Weather Maine, the heat
index was in the 90's (°F) from 10am
until after 7pm. The threat of thunderstorms
diminished as a pre-frontal trough came through,
decoupling the surface lifting from the upper-level
support. There were a few large thunderstorms
in New Hampshire, but most of the activity was
isolated in nature, and confined to our South
or West.
RECORD EVENT
REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAY ME
225 PM EDT SAT AUG 02 2003
...RECORD DAILY
MAXIMUM AT PORTLAND TIED AT 1252 PM...
AT 1252 PM TEMPERATURE
AT THE PORTLAND JETPORT REACHED 91 DEGREES.
THIS TIES THE RECORD MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE FOR
THIS DAY THAT WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1955.
WeatherMaine.com
had a high temperature of:
91.2 °F at 12:20pm (Sensor 1, South Portland)
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Severe
Weather Hits Southern Maine
August 16, 2003 |
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Lightning Strike Over
Portland, Maine
(image ©
Max Riseman)
This day featured numerous Severe
Thunderstorm Warnings throughout the afternoon;
the National Weather Service issued a Severe
Thunderstorm watch that expired at 5:00PM.
The rough weather came through Portland right
around that time, with very heavy rain and
much lightning. At our observation point near
Back Cove, there was heavy rain as well as
several very close lightning strikes. No hail
or extreme winds were noted.
There were two lightning strikes in particular
that were extremely close. I had my DV camcorder
running during this time, and recorded both
close strikes on tape; at least the flash
and the resulting thunder. The first one was
very loud, and sounded much like a gunshot
or explosion; in this particular one, the
windows of the car were closed. The second
clip was taken from the window of my car,
looking toward Portland in-town. The open
windows allowed for a much nicer representation
of the 'electric slap'. The sound map of this
thunder's onset is below.
Thunder Sound Intensity
Over Time
(from Sequence 2)
In calculating the approximate
distance from us to the lightning strike,
the frame time of the first sound (the 'slap')
was used.
The photo at the top of this report is taken
from a third movie sequence with three distinct
bolts that were recorded on tape. The slow-motion
animation link below shows the three strikes
- they are not visible during the full-speed
loop of sequence 3; only two were visible
in the full-speed DV playback.
In an attempt (afterward) to figure out where
the bolts in Sequence 1 and 2 hit, I used
the time stamp on the camera, combined with
the frame time of the flash and the frame
time of the first hint of thunder from that
stroke; relative positions of objects in the
picture were used for timing. Weather values
from Weather Maine (South Portland) were used
to calculate the speed of sound. At 28°C/82°F
and 85% Relative Humidity, the speed of sound
is 350m/s. Combining that information with
the timing of the video frames (1/2 to 3/4
second), I calculated that the approximate
distance to the strike (at least the origin
of the sound) to be between 500 and 850 ft
(175m to 260m) away! Upon referencing a local
topographical map (1:25000), I looked for
recognizable buildings. Given the location
of the buildings on the map, the apparent
location of the flash in the footage, as well
as the approx. 500ft between us and the strike,
I would surmise that both strikes hit the
communications tower by Hannaford and Arby's,
near Back Cove. It is unclear where the third
sequence of strikes hit.
Movies: Sequence
1 | Sequence
2 | Sequence
3 (340Kbps WMV)
Animated GIF: 24 frames taken from
the DV camcorder. There is approximately a
0.07 second interval between frames, 24 frames
total. (654KB). This
is a slow-motion
shot of Sequence 3 above.
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Time-Lapse
Movie of Thunderstorm Hitting Seabreeze
August 6, 2003
~6:30-6:45pm |
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This movie is 15 minutes of video
sped up to 16 times the recorded speed, or about
1 minute in duration. The audio track is removed.
A few lightning strikes occurred within the
field of view of the camera, but the speed of
the loop masks the bolts. The strong storm that
caused the clouds and weather moved to the North
of Scarborough and Portland before sliding off
the mid-coast. No rain was received at our observing
location.
This footage was taken from just off Route 1
in Scarborough, Maine near the Scarborough Municipal
building.
Movie: Time-Lapse
Storm Front (~1 MB)
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Extreme
Rainfall Observation
July 23, 2003 |
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Moist,
muggy air ahead of a stalled front sat over much
of New England for the days around July 23, 2003.
A persistent upper-level trough remains to the
West of us, destabilizing the air and providing
a Southwesterly flow aloft. Unstable air, combined
with dewpoints at or above 70°F, means there
is ample moisture in the air for heavy rain.
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Weather
Variables For Heavy Rain Event
Harrison, Maine Location
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Time
(7/23/03)
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Temp
(°F)
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10-min
Rain Accum.
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RainRate
(in/hr)
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10:00a
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71.5°
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0.04"
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0.57
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10:10a
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71.3°
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0.37"
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4.72
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10:20a
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70.9°
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0.35"
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3.79
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10:30a
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70.8°
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0.11"
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1.57
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Seabreeze
Front Observation
June 23, 2003 |
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Click
here to get a full review of the seabreeze
front that came through on this date at 12:00PM.
This was an interesting event because a sharp
line of Stratus clouds came in with vigor as the
front passed. |
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History
Is Made
April 21st, 2003
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Tropical Storm
Ana
formed on April 21st
and remained a tropical system until the 24th
of April. Ana had a maximum wind speed of 45
knots during its life.
This is the first tropical system in the Atlantic
ever recorded in April; records began in 1871.
You can get the
Tropical Season (2003) history at Plymouth
State University's Tropical
Weather Pages.
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The
Accountants' Office Is Not The
Only Hot Place On Tax Day
April 15, 2003
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RECORD
EVENT REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAY ME
6 PM EDT TUE APR 15 2003
...A RECORD HIGH
TEMPERATURE SET IN PORTLAND TODAY...
THE TEMPERATURE
AT THE PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL JETPORT HIT 83
DEGREES
AT 344 THIS AFTERNOON... BREAKING THE OLD RECORD
OF 75 DEGREES THAT
WAS SET ON THIS DATE BACK IN 1941.
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WeatherMaine.com
had a high temperature of:
83.6°F at 3:46pm at Sensor 1
82.0°F at 3:37pm at Sensor 2
with
227 Unique Visitors on 4/15/03
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*
...Ironically...
*
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All
Winter, Your Furnace Is Running
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Winter
'01/'02 and Winter '02/'03
Heating
Degree Day Comparison
Based on a price of $0.40/gallon
more for fuel oil this year, and a Heating Degree
Day increase of 28%, your heating costs this
Winter are likely over 70% higher than last!
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Current Weather
Conditions In South Portland
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Live weather
data from WeatherMaine's weather sensors.
Also has graphs of hourly and weekly weather data.
Access to NOAA weather summaries and the WeatherMaine Weather
Data Archive can also be found on this page.
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Plymouth
State University Weather
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Formerly
Plymouth State College, Plymouth State University is located
in the white Mountains in Plymouth, NH. PSU offers a B.S.
in Meteorology. |
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WCSH
TV6 |
WCSH - the
local NBC affiliate for Portland, Maine. Named for the Congress
Square Hotel in which its Portland office resides. |
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WMTW
TV8 |
WMTW- the
local ABC affiliate for Portland, Maine. Named for Mount Washington,
the highest point in New England. |
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WGME
TV13 |
WGME - the
local CBS affiliate for Portland, Maine. First known as WGAN,
it was renamed later. WGAN was named for GANnett, as in Guy
Gannett, son of William Gannett. WGME is likely named for
William Gannett and the abbreviation for the state of Maine. |
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Area Forecast Discussions
From the NWS |
Gray,
ME
Taunton,
MA
Albany,
NY
Burlington,
VT
Upton,
NY
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Images
of the Gulf Stream |
Images of
the gulf stream from the AVHRR, Advanced Very High Resolution
Radiometer.
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Maine
Weather Page |
WeatherMaine's
Maine weather page. This gives links to information specific
to Maine.
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Interactive
Weather Information Network |
The
NWS's IWIN site gives
interactive weather information for the USA. Shows current
warnings and satellite pictures, as well as other good information.
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Portland
Trails |
Information
about the trail system surrounding Greater Portland.
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Maine
Watershed Information |
The EPA's
web site for the Presumpscot River's drainage basin in Coastal
Maine. |
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Casco
Bay Watershed Information |
Information
on the watershed of Casco Bay. This is a great resource for
finding out how the bodies are water are interconnected. This
site has a great deal of information on other watersheds as
well.
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City
of South Portland's Web Site |
Essential
information for people that live in South Portland. Gives
information like the transfer station's hours, as well as
other information to make living in South Portland, Maine
better than any other place on Earth! |
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Friends
of Casco Bay |
A web site
dedicated to preserving the environmental health of Casco
Bay through education and other programs. |
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Waterfront
Design |
A web site
link that goes to an eco-friendly shoreline builder in the
Lakes Region of Maine. Also includes pictures of dogs from
the Lakes Region. |
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Sparkability.net |
A local company
prividing cool toys and accessories for kids, focusing on
providing high-quality toys to last for generations. |
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The National Weather
Service weather radio for Southern Maine broadcasts at 162.55
MHz (KDO95, Blackstrap Hill, Falmouth)
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Weather
Station Mount
Anemometer is about 42" from the upside-down T
adapter.
Design minimizes heat from the roof and exposes to more
wind currents, helping the passive radiation shield.
Design also makes servicing unit easy without having
to remove the whole mounting. The ISS post enables one
to simply loosen the u-bolt and slide it over the small
post- without having to unhook the anemometer.
The mounting must be plumb in all directions and care
should be given to the installation process to insure
the instruments are plumb and balanced. |
Parts
Needed For Mount
2" Copper Pipe
Sleeves shown far lower left, then pipe caps, then T
adapter, mounting clips, 2 short cuts (Between a copper
elbow and the T Adapter and one for the ISS mount which
hooks into the second elbow fitting), 1 medium cut (for
mounting downpipe) and 1 large cut copper pipe (Anemometer
post). They are soldered on top of the anemometer post
with a small gap in between to prevent slippage of anemometer
assembly.
All joints sanded, fluxed and sweat fitted together
with careful attention to make sure: 1) The downpipe
used for mounting to house/post, 2) Anemometer post
and 3) ISS mounting post are all aligned on one plane-
if not then you will never be able to make both the
tipping bucket and wind cups operate properly without
resoldering. |
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All pictures and content ©2007 by Max
Riseman unless otherwise noted.
Max Riseman is a Maine resident
and graduate of the PSC meteorology program, and holds a B.S.
in Meteorology with a technical math minor. Max is also a member
of the American Meteorological
Society. If you are
considering school for Meteorology, then you should visit
Plymouth State University, formerly Plymouth State College.
WeatherMaine gives real-time
weather information to people of the Greater Portland, Maine
area.
Weather is updated from instruments every minute, and can be
seen here. The
server-side VB script and Java applet tickers' data update every
10 minutes; data is read from a file on the WWW server that
is FTP'd from South Portland, Maine, USA. Graphs update at either
10 or 60 minute intervals. Temperature records for the 10-minute
period reflect the readings at the time of the sample.
WeatherMaine is located in Maine
Zone 24, and gets its data from a Davis Vantage Pro weather
station; the ISS is offset (out, away from roof) 18 inches from
the peak of my roof. The console is located in the foyer and
connects to the PC via a 4-wire telephone cable that runs through
the door casing. WeatherLink 5.5 software from Davis
Instruments polls the instrumentation and logs the data
to the PC. The data from the weather station is processed on
a custom-built PC, with power protected using APC Back-UPS Pro
650; APC PowerChute is used to monitor the UPS. Software to
generate ticker text and dynamic weather content written in
Visual Basic v6.0; page concept, design and maintenance by Max
Riseman.
If you have comments or suggestions
on how to make WeatherMaine better or to report errata please...
email the webmaster
WeatherMaine began recording data on Monday, July
23, 2001 at 13:00 (GMT -5)
There are over 280,000 records of 10-minute data in the
data set.
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