Winter Storm — Northern Oxford, Maine

2020-03-23 to 2020-03-24 · Northern Oxford, Maine

Event narrative

Snow moved into western Maine mountains during the early evening on the 23rd and quickly became moderate to heavy. Forcing was driven primarily by warm air advection and banding near the low center never made it far enough northwest to affect the area, and so came to an end in less than 12 hours. Snowfall tapered off quickly after midnight. Total snowfall ranged from 3 inches near the Canadian border to 10 inches in the Mahoosucs.

Wider weather episode

Low pressure west of the Appalachian Mountains on the 23rd underwent secondary development along a baroclinic zone lingering off the Mid Atlantic coast. That secondary area of low pressure steadily deepened as it moved northeastward into the Gulf of Maine by the 24th. Mid level low centers developed in a location that ensured that warm air struggled to get very far north and prevented most of the mixed precipitation potential. That and a cool and dry antecedent air mass meant that the predominate precipitation type was snow across most of western Maine.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 875648. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.