Winter Weather — Interior Cumberland, Maine

2013-12-21 to 2013-12-23 · Interior Cumberland, Maine

Wider weather episode

A major winter storm affected the State of Maine from December 21st, 2013, through January 6th,, 2014. A mixture of precipitation fell across the state from December 21st through the 23rd with snow across northern areas, a mixture of snow and sleet across north central areas, a mixture of sleet and freezing rain across south central areas, and a mixture of freezing rain and rain in southern areas. Due to the weight of the ice on tree branches and limbs from freezing rain, widespread power outages occurred in portions southern and central Maine. Because subfreezing temperatures followed the storm and persisted for about two weeks, the ice remained on the trees for a prolonged period of time. During this two-week period, snow from a series of storms hampered clean-up efforts and added weight to the branches and limbs that were already coated with ice which caused more power outages. In addition, extreme cold temperatures and wind chills hampered restoration efforts.

The prolonged precipitation event occurred as a frontal boundary remained south of the state and an area of arctic high pressure to the north funneled cold air southwestward across the State. At the same time, southerly winds aloft brought abundant moisture into the State as a series of disturbances moved northeastward along the frontal boundary. During the period of December 21 -23, northern areas of the State saw up to 10 inches of snow and sleet with many southern areas seeing from one 1/2 to 3/4 inches of ice accretion. A few spots reported about 1 inch of ice.

The weight of the ice and later the weight of ice and snow resulted in falling debris which caused scattered to widespread power outages across the state. Some of the power outages lasted more than a week. Although the event in southern Oxford, southern Franklin, southern Somerset and interior Cumberland Counties didn't qualify as an ices storm based on coverage, portions of these counties had between a half and three quarters of an inch of ice accretion which led to downed trees and power outages in the affected areas. In addition, gusty winds during the period also caused additional outages due to falling ice-laden branches. Central Maine Power reported 127,000 customers that lost power from the 22nd to the 28th, another 26,000 customers that lost power from the 29th through the 31st, and about 5000 customers that lost electrical service from the storm on the 3rd. Bangor Hydro/EMERA reported a peak outage of 39,000 customers on the 23rd with several thousand more outages on the 26thand 28th, and fewer outages on the 3rd and 6th. Eastern Maine Electric Co-op reported about 5000 outages late in the day on the 23rd.

The combination of warmer weather and gusty winds on January 6th finally melted all the ice off trees throughout the state, ending the effects of the December 21-23 ice storm.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 491680. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.