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Search Weather Maine
Maine
Weather
Spring
Is Named Well
April 2007
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.
A
Temperature Roller Coaster
March 6-17, 2007
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.
An
Inverted Trough and Return to Reality
January 22, 2007
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.
More
Warm Weather Records Fall
January 6, 2007
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.
A
Record Warm Year
January to December, 2006
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.
A
Foggy Start to Fall
October 3-6, 2005
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.
Thunderstorms
and Urban Flooding
June 10, 2005
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.
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.
More
March Maine Snow
March 12, 2005
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
A
Gulf of Maine Bomb
March 8, 2005
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)
A
Classic Winter Cold Snap and Blizzard
January 21-23, 2005
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
-29°F*
Bangor (BGR)
-28°F
Fryeburg (IZG)
-13°F
Portland (PWM)
-14°F
S. Portland (WeatherMaine)
1/21/05
-24°F
Bangor
(BGR)
-7°F
Portland (PWM)
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:
Maximum
Wind Speeds
1/23/05
83 mph
Nantucket, MA
65 mph
Cape Elizabeth
47 mph
Portland (PWM)
A
Moderate Ice Storm
December 7-8, 2004
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.
First
Snow of the Season
November 14, 2004
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.
Sox
Win!
October 27, 2004
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.
Heavy
Rain Marks A Change In Airmass And Breaks A Record
August 21, 2004
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.
Time
10min Rainfall
Rain Rate
(in/hr)
2:40pm
0.02"
0.53
2:50pm
0.11"
6.26
3:00pm
0.40"
12.52
3:10pm
0.16"
1.92
3:20pm
0.01"
0.35
3:30pm
0.00"
0.05
3:40pm
0.01"
0.05
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.
A
Funnel Cloud In Southern Maine
August 20, 2004
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAY ME
700 PM EDT FRI AUG 20 2004
..TIME...
...EVENT...
...CITY
LOCATION...
...LAT.LON...
..DATE...
....MAG....
..COUNTY
LOCATION...ST..
...SOURCE....
0404
PM
FUNNEL
CLOUD
SANFORD
AIRPORT
NOT AVBL
08/13/2004
YORK
ME
SPOTTER
A
Taste Of Summer, But No Record
June 9, 2004
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.
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.
Record-Breaking
Heat
and Spring Thunderstorms
May 15, 2004
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
Old Record
Portland
85°F
80°F in 1957
Bangor
85°F
78°F in 1954
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!
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)
Another
Arctic Air Outbreak
January 13, 2004
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.
Record
Cold Hits Maine
January 9, 2004
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.
Wild
December Weather
December 26, 2003
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.
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!
Major
X-Class Solar Flares Erupt
October 28, 2003
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
First
Snow Of The Season
October 23, 2003
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.
A
Strong Fall Storm Affects Maine
October 15, 2003
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:
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.
First
Frost In South Portland, Maine
October 7, 2003
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
Fall
Weather Visits Maine
October 2, 2003
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.
Autumn
Begins
September 23, 2003
Autumn
Begins at 6:37AM EDT on
September 23, 2003.
Hurricane
Isabel Impacts The U.S.
September 19, 2003
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.
Bermuda
Braces For Hurricane Fabian
September 05, 2003
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.
Interactive
