Winter Storm — Southern Oxford, Maine

2023-12-03 to 2023-12-04 · Southern Oxford, Maine

Event narrative

Precipitation began around midday on the 3rd as a wintry mix of rain and snow as a warm front had lifted right up to the foothills. East facing aspects of the higher terrain had upsloping flow and relatively cooler temperatures to go along with the added lift, which allowed precipitation type to remain mostly snow. This led to a large range in snowfall totals from the higher terrain near the Mahoosucs to the Lakes Region. As winds become northwesterly during the morning of the 4th, snow tapered to snow showers and came to an end. Snowfall totals ranged from 5 inches near Bridgton to 10 inches in the mountains.

Wider weather episode

Early on the 3rd a stalled frontal boundary was draped across southern New Hampshire and near the coast of Maine. Low pressure slowly developed along the southern end of the front and rode north along the Appalachians through the day on the 3rd. Low pressure occluded during the evening on the 3rd, with a secondary low pressure developing south of Nantucket. The bulk of the precipitation came with the initial push of warm air advection, winding down early in the morning on the 4th. However an inverted trough hanging back to the northwest of the low center extended light snow through much of the day on the 4th.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1146350. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.