Heavy Snow — Central Somerset, Maine

2018-11-16 · Central Somerset, Maine

Event narrative

After midnight a band of snow lifted into the mountains of western Maine. Light to moderate snow continued into the morning. The mountains were far enough north to avoid much impact from the dry slot and issues with mixed precipitation. As low pressure strengthened in the Gulf of Maine one final band of snow developed and quickly moved northeast across the area, leaving behind additional light accumulations. Storm total accumulations were generally in the 5 to 7 inch range.

Wider weather episode

Coastal low pressure developing off the Mid Atlantic spread snow across the Northeast on the evening of November 15th. While the strongest lift remained to the south, moderate to heavy snow did spread into parts of the area, especially far southwestern Maine. This was due mainly to strong warm air advection, as a strong jet streak rounded the base of the upper level low over the Ohio River Valley. This jet streak lifting northeastward over the region allowed the dry slot to move into the area after midnight, bringing steady snowfall to an end. On November 16th the coastal low pressure became dominant, and steady snow developed to its northwest across the western Maine mountains.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 785541. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.