Winter Storm — Southern Oxford, Maine

2025-12-23 to 2025-12-24 · Southern Oxford, Maine

Event narrative

Snow overspread the area on the evening of the 23rd as a warm front approached northern New England. In the late evening stronger lift arrived and snow became moderate to heavy at times through the morning of the 24th. This was especially true in eastern parts of Oxford County, south of Route 2 and east of Route 26, where strong convergence from an inverted trough managed to become nearly stationary. Snowfall rates within the main part of the Norlun trough were 1 to 3 inches per hour. Light snow lingered until the afternoon before tapering off. Snowfall totals ranged from 6 inches near the New Hampshire border to as much as 17 inches in the Oxford Hills area.

Wider weather episode

On the 23rd a strong shortwave trough aloft crossed the Northeast from northwest to southeast. At the surface an inverted trough developed along this same trajectory, and winds converged along its axis. Cold temperatures aloft created a large difference between surface temperatures and mid level temperatures, enhancing the low level lift. The surface trough axis lingered just north of Casco Bay for most of the overnight into the 24th before weakening and drifting south. Moderate to heavy snow was persistent within and near the surface trough, with lighter snows outside of that area. During its peak, snowfall rates were between 1 and 3 inches per hours. Given how long the band of snow was nearly stationary, this likely qualified as a Norlun trough. Some warmer temperatures near the coast led to lighter snowfall amounts and a sticky, wetter snow. Power outages ranged from 5 percent to 30 percent for coastal communities from Casco Bay into parts of the Midcoast. Snow became lighter through midday as forcing for ascent weakened and moved away. Key Messages: heavy snow, traffic accidents, power outages.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1299631. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.