Winter Storm — Central Interior Cumberland, Maine

2023-01-25 to 2023-01-26 · Central Interior Cumberland, Maine

Event narrative

Snow began during the afternoon on the 25th as a band of light precipitation well ahead of the main precipitation shield. The steady snowfall moved into the Maine Lakes Region during the evening hours on the 25th. Moderate snow continued until just after midnight, when mid level warming allowed sleet and freezing rain to take over as the dominant precipitation types. Eventually precipitation changed over to moderate to heavy rain before coming to an end on the morning of the 26th. The existing and new snowfall absorbed much of the sleet, freezing rain, and rain that fell. Snowfall totals suffered from significant compaction by the time of most reports in the morning, but generally ranged from 4 to 7 inches.

Wider weather episode

On the 25th a winter storm lifted north through the Ohio River Valley and into the eastern Great Lakes while a weakening high pressure drifted southeast into the Canadian Maritimes. The warm front between the systems separated typical January cold over northern New England from mild air to the south. Cold air damming allowed much of the precipitation to start as snow late on the 25th. The winter storm occluded on the 26th, with secondary low pressure forming near New York City and moving towards Boston. This northerly track allowed both warm air aloft and warm marine air to move into much of western Maine. Despite cold air damming remaining in place, after a period of snowfall, precipitation changed to sleet and primarily freezing rain before changing over to rain. Freezing rain was so heavy on the 26th that most of it ran off before having a chance to refreeze. Between 1 and 2 inches of liquid equivalent precipitation fell during the event, and did lead to a few structure collapses after all the recent snowfall.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1068707. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.