Blizzard — Interior Cumberland, Maine

2015-01-27 · Interior Cumberland, Maine

Wider weather episode

An area of low pressure developed off the Delmarva peninsula on Monday, January 26th, and intensified rapidly as it moved slowly northward through the 27th. Snow spread northward and eastward across the State Monday night and became heavy on Tuesday, the 27th. Winds became strong during the day Tuesday leading to blizzard conditions at times along and inland from the coast. The snow persisted into Tuesday night in many areas of western Maine.

The storm surge associated with the storm, combined with high seas, caused coastal flooding, erosion, and splash over along the southwest coast of Maine. Portland's tide gauge peaked at 12.32 feet at 4:18 am on the 27th, about 4 inches above flood levels (see graph below).

Across much of western Maine, snowfall amounts ranged from 10 to more than 30 inches with the highest amounts along and inland from the coast. The northern mountains generally saw snowfall in the 6 to 10 inch range. Below are some of the higher 2-day snowfall amounts (in inches) for western Maine Counties.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 554587. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.