Winter Storm — Kennebec, Maine

2023-12-03 to 2023-12-04 · Kennebec, Maine

Event narrative

Precipitation began during the afternoon on the 3rd as a wintry mix of rain and snow as a warm front had lifted up into the foothills. Cold air damming held in place and as precipitation intensity increased the temperatures cooled even further. By early evening rain was changing to snow as far south as the lower parts of the Kennebec River Valley. This led to a large range in snowfall totals from the higher terrain of the Belgrade Lakes to the lower elevations in the south. 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 Gardiner to 10 inches near Rome and Vienna.

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 1146354. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.