Winter Storm — Southern Franklin, Maine

2021-01-02 · Southern Franklin, Maine

Event narrative

Snow moved into the western Maine mountains just after midnight on the 2nd. Light to moderate snow continued into the early morning hours of the 2nd before tapering off and mixing with sleet and freezing rain. After sunrise steady snow moved back into the area and continued until ending as some wraparound light snow around midday. Snow totals ranged from 5 to 7 inches.

Wider weather episode

Low pressure moved through the Ohio River Valley late on the 1st and tracked into New York early on the 2nd. A secondary low pressure began to develop early on the 2nd in the vicinity of Chesapeake Bay. By sunrise the secondary low pressure had become dominant and moved across Buzzards Bay and through the Gulf of Maine. The initial wave of precipitation moved in with strong warm air advection aloft late on the evening of the 1st. Early in the morning on the 2nd above freezing air and drying out of the column allowed some of that precipitation to change over to sleet, freezing rain, and rain. As the storm deepened in the Gulf of Maine, mid levels cooled and precipitation flipped back to snow for several hours before ending around midday.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 928069. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.