High Wind — Southern Penobscot, Maine

2025-12-19 · Southern Penobscot, Maine

Event narrative

A strong southerly low level jet crossed the region during the afternoon and early evening of the 19th. Southerly winds were generally sustained at 25 to 35 mph with gusts of 55 to 65 mph. A peak wind of 66 mph was measured at the Bangor International Airport. The winds snapped and uprooted numerous trees which brought down power lines and utility poles which contributed to numerous power outages. Downed trees...power lines and utility poles blocked many roads.

Wider weather episode

Intensifying low pressure tracking northeast across Quebec province drew an occluded front across the region through the afternoon and early evening hours of the 19th. A strong southerly low level jet crossed the region in advance of the occlusion impacting mostly Downeast portions of the region with an initial round of high winds. A strong cold front was then drawn across the region through the early morning hours of the 20th. West to southwest winds increased in the wake of the cold front leading to a second round of high winds which mostly impacted northern and central portions of the region.

The strong south winds in advance of the occlusion brought record breaking warmth to the region during the 19th. High temperature records on the 19th included 54 at Houlton...55 at Millinocket and 57 at Bangor. Heavy rain also occurred in advance of the occlusion. The combination of record warmth...heavy rain and a melting snowpack led to thawing ground which turned to mud. This allowed shallow rooted trees to be more easily toppled with both rounds of high winds. The first round of southerly winds across Downeast areas were generally sustained at 25 to 35 mph with gusts of 55 to 65 mph. A peak wind gust of 66 mph was measured at the Bangor Airport...with a 63 mph gust at Bar Harbor and a 62 mph gust at Eastport. These winds had the greatest impacts across interior and coastal Downeast portions of the region. Power outages steadily increased across Downeast areas through the late afternoon and evening of the 19th with uprooted and toppled trees...along with snapped branches...bringing down power lines and utility poles. Power outages peaked across Downeast areas during the late afternoon and evening of the 19th. Power outages in Penobscot county peaked at around 18000 customers...at around 14000 customers in Hancock county and at around 3000 customers in Washington county. Across northern portions of the region wind gusts were generally 40 to 50 mph with the south winds in advance of the occluded front. These winds generally produced only minor impacts across northern portions of the forecast area. A line of convective showers accompanied the occlusion.

A strong cold front followed the occlusion several hours later. West to southwest winds rapidly increased in the wake of the cold front. The strongest winds in the wake of the cold front mostly impacted northern and central portions of the region. West to southwest winds were generally sustained at 25 to 35 mph with gusts of 50 to 60 mph...locally to around 65 mph. A peak wind gust of 67 mph was reported at Millinocket...with a 58 mph gust at Houlton. Power outages across Aroostook county spiked to around 15000 customers during the early morning hours of the 20th and to around 4500 customers in Piscatquis county. Across Downeast areas...wind gusts in the wake of the cold front generally ranged from 35 to 45 mph. Thawed muddy ground again allowed shallow rooted trees to be more easily uprooted. Uprooted and snapped trees...along with snapped branches...again brought down power lines and utility poles. The falling trees and downed power lines blocked many roads which slowed the recovery effort.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1305378. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.