Heavy Snow — Northern Somerset, Maine

2024-03-10 · Northern Somerset, Maine

Event narrative

Storm total snow accumulations ranged from 8 to 12 inches.

Wider weather episode

Low pressure tracked east across the Great Lakes through the night of the 9th into the 10th. The low merged with a secondary coastal low during the 10th while lifting to Maine. The low tracked northeast across the Gulf of Maine to the Downeast region during the 10th...crossing the Downeast region that evening...then exiting across the Maritimes during the early morning hours of the 11th. Precipitation developed during the evening of the 9th...expanding across the region through the early morning hours of the 10th. Precipitation then persisted through the 10th into the early morning hours of the 11th.

Snow mixed with rain across northern areas...while a snow and rain mix transitioned to rain Downeast. The greatest snow totals occurred across northwest Maine where precipitation remained in the form of snow longest. Total snow accumulations of 8 to 12 inches occurred across northern Somerset county...with 6 to 10 inches across northwest Aroostook county. Warning criteria snow accumulations occurred during the afternoon of the 10th. The transition to a wintry mix and rain limited snow accumulations across the remainder of northern Maine.

A strong low level jet also developed to the east of the low track. South to southeast wind gusts along the Downeast coast and portions of the interior Downeast region generally ranged between 50 and 60 mph...with some gusts in excess of 60 mph. A peak wind gust of 72 mph was reported at Blue Hill in coastal Hancock county. A 63 mph wind gust was reported at Bangor in southern Penobscot county. The strong winds snapped branches and brought down trees which contributed to power outages. Around 3800 customers lost power...mostly in coastal portions of Hancock and Washington counties.

The astronomical tides on the 10th were nearly the highest of the month. The strong south to southeast onshore winds along the Downeast coast produced a storm surge of 1 to 2 feet. The combination of high astronomical tides...storm surge and large waves led to significant coastal flooding along the Downeast coast around the time of high tide during the late morning and early afternoon of the 10th. The coastal flood impacts during this event were enhanced due to residual damage from two other significant coastal flood events which occurred in January. The January events had damaged infrastructure and protective dunes which left beaches more vulnerable to impacts during this event. Some coastal roads were flooded to depths of 1 to 3 feet and impassable leading to road closures. This included Seawall Road in Acadia National Park and the Deer Isle Causeway along with other coastal roads. Portions of Seawall Road were destroyed. Debris was left on roads with some roads damaged. The greatest coastal flood impacts occurred across coastal Hancock county...with lesser impacts along coastal portions of Washington county. The storm surge up the lower reaches of the Penobscot River led to reverse tidal flooding in Bangor along the Kenduskeag Stream. This led to around a foot of water in the Kenduskeag Plaza around the time of high tide.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1166186. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.