Northern Franklin storm history

Franklin County averaged 2.31 inches of precipitation in December, approximately 1.5 inches below normal. The cumulative rainfall deficit since July grew to over 7.5 inches, marking the 5th driest July through December stretch on record. The USDM on December 30th showed 40% of th…

Franklin County averaged 2.80 inches of precipitation in November, approximately an inch below normal. The rainfall deficits carried over from summer grew over 6 inches, making it the 5th driest stretch between July through November on record. While much of the county was in Seve…

Franklin County averaged 2.48 inches of precipitation in September, approximately an inch below normal. The rainfall deficits carried over from summer grew near 5 inches, making it the 6th driest stretch between July through September on record. The USDM on September 30th had 4% …

Snow squalls arrived over the western Maine mountains during the morning on the 7th. At 935 am the Steven A. Bean Municipal Airport reported visibility falling to less than 1/4 mile and winds gusting to 36 mph. Snowfall amounts were generally less than 1 inch. Key messages: Heavy…

Snowfall became moderate to heavy at times around midnight and continued into the morning of Thursday, December 5th. Snowfall totals ranged from 5 inches near the Canadian border to 10 inches in the higher terrain. Key Impacts: heavy snow.

While snow began early in the morning on the 28th, snowfall rates picked up late morning through late afternoon. Snowfall rates where one inch per hour at times. Snow was heavy and wet, clinging to branches and breaking limbs. Power outages increased in the late afternoon, and th…

Snow overspread the area during the evening of the 3rd, heavy at times overnight into the morning of the 4th. The western Maine Mountains were far enough north to be well into the colder portions of the storm, and despite the late season winter event, temperatures remained at or …

Snowfall rates in excess of 1 inch per hour led to snowfall totals ranging between 17 and 21 inches.

Precipitation began as a light mix, especially across the lower elevations and valleys of Northern Franklin County. As heavier precipitation moved into the region, the precipitation type transitioned to snow, which became heavy at times in the higher terrain. In the lowest elevat…

Snow squalls arrived in the western Maine mountains during the late afternoon on the 14th. The webcams near Carrabassett Valley observed visibility of one quarter mile with quick, light accumulations on the roads. The squalls lasted about 20 minutes at any given location before c…

Precipitation began during the evening of the 9th with a band of heavy snow lifting northeastward out of the Mahoosucs. Snowfall rates were briefly 1 inch per hour, before settling to a steady light to moderate snow. Snowfall rates increased again after midnight and snow continue…

Strong southeast wind gusts began the morning of the 18th. While wind gusts remained strong throughout the day, the damaging gusts occurred in several waves in the morning, again at midday, and once more in the evening. The peak gusts were fairly typical of a high wind event duri…

Precipitation began around midday on the 3rd as mostly snow with colder surface air locked in the interior. Upsloping easterly flow allowed the heaviest snow to fall through the Rangeley-Stratton Range. Eventually steady snow tapered to upslope snow showers, which continued for m…

Snow overspread the western Maine mountains shortly after midnight, early on the morning of the 4th. Snowfall quickly became moderate to heavy through the early afternoon hours. As low pressure moved into the northwest Atlantic flow become more northwesterly and snow tapered to u…

Light snow began after midnight on the 28th. By midday snow intensity picked up and became moderate at times through the late afternoon. Otherwise snow remained light and tapered off in the late evening, coming to an end from northwest to southeast. Snowfall totals ranged from 8 …

By mid morning on the 3rd wind chills were reaching -30 degrees. Ambient air temperatures continued to fall into the double digits below zero with winds gusting in excess of 35 mph. The coldest wind chill values approached -55 degrees, including -47 degrees at Carrabassett Region…

A significant downslope windstorm occurred in the western Maine Mountains on the 23rd. With a temperature inversion sitting right around ridgeline, strong to damaging wind gusts were able to mix down the lee side of the higher terrain. For most of the day winds gusted between 40 …

Light precipitation began on the morning on the 16th. Steady moderate to occasionally heavy snow started relatively quickly after the onset, especially at higher elevations. Southeast flow upsloping into the western Maine Mountains produced significantly more snowfall along the e…

Early in the day on the 12th precipitation was mainly rain, especially in the valleys. By mid-morning precipitation rapidly changed over to snow as low pressure developed off the coast of southern New England and colder air filtered in from the north. Snow became heavy at times t…

Snow squalls crossed the western lakes and mountains between 5:00 pm and 6:00 pm. The Steven A. Bean Municipal Airport observed a visibility of less than 1/4 mile and a wind gust of 46 knots at 5:15 pm. Spotter in Sandy River reported visibility less than 100 feet in a snow squal…

Snow overspread the western lakes and mountains early in the morning on the 25th. A hybrid type snow band gradually transitioned into a laterally quasi-stationary band around daybreak. Moderate to heavy snowfall continued from that time through early afternoon. The snow tapered o…

Snow squalls crossed the western lakes and mountains between 500 pm and 600 pm. The Steven A. Bean Municipal Airport in Rangeley observed a visibility of 1/4 mile at 535 pm, and though winds did not gust at the airport they were reported gusty in other locations in the region.

Rain changed to snow around 4:00 pm on the 3rd. During the late evening the snow intensity increased and remained moderate at times through daybreak on the 4th. Steady snow continued through the day and tapered off in the evening. Snowfall amounts ranged from 12 to 16 inches.

Light snow began on the morning of the 29th, with the intensity of snowfall picking up after daybreak. An intense band of snow developed around mid morning over southern New England but remained mostly over the Gulf of Maine until midday. The band backed into coastal and Midcoast…

Strong warm air advection forced a laterally translating band of snow into the western Maine mountains during the morning of the 17th. Within a couple hours snow was moderate to heavy. Snowfall rates were near 1 inch per hour for two or three hours leading up to mid morning. The …

Here is a breakdown of the U.S. Drought Monitor across western Maine from the issuance on November 2, 2021. Severe drought (D2) conditions were expanded slightly to the northeast across Somerset county, now totaling 9% areal extent in far western Maine. The moderate drought (D1) …

The moderate (D1) drought conditions across Maine were reduced to a (D0) across portions of southern Oxford, Franklin, and Somerset Counties. Severe drought conditions remain unchanged for the central and northern portions of those counties as they received less rainfall. Between…

Rainfall in August was below normal for most of the region, with above normal rainfall only over southern Maine where drought conditions no longer remain. For the areas in moderate to severe drought, rainfall was 40-70% of normal for the month. Temperatures meanwhile were running…

The July 1 issuance of the U.S. Drought Monitor had 100% of Maine a drought level of D0 or greater. A moderate drought level (D1) or higher was in place for 70% of Maine. Severe drought (D2) conditions were designated for 20% of Maine over portions of Oxford, Franklin, and Somers…

The state of Maine activated its Drought Task Force. Several towns instituted voluntary water restrictions. Hydro operators balanced needs of lake levels, hydroelectric power generation needs, and the discharges to maintain stream flow needs downstream. In Maine, the South Berwic…

Snow moved into the area during the early morning hours on the 16th and continued into the evening. The majority of the snowfall accumulated through the afternoon hours as a mesoscale snowband with moderate snowfall rates moved into the Western Maine Mountains. Due to the late se…

Winds began to sharply increase early in the morning on the 2nd. While strong wind gusts were common over a large portion of the area, damaging wind gusts were most likely in the lee of the taller mountains and ridges. Several wind gusts in excess of 50 knots were measured on loc…

Snow moved into the area just after midnight and continued through the morning hours on the 2nd. The bulk of the accumulation came with moderate to heavy snow in the mesoscale snow band as it moved north through the western Maine mountains. Snow continued into the evening in wave…

Snow moved into the area just after midnight and continued through the morning hours on the 2nd. The bulk of the accumulation came with moderate to heavy snow in the mesoscale snow band as it moved north through the western Maine mountains. Snow continued into the evening in wave…

Snow began on the morning of the 16th and continued into the early evening hours. A mild mid January air mass resulted in a strong elevation dependence to snowfall amounts. Snowfall around 12 inches occurred in the higher elevations of the Bigelow Mountains with totals closer to …

Snow moved into the western Maine mountains just around midnight on the 2nd. Light to moderate snow continued into the early morning hours of the 2nd before tapering off. Precipitation was predominantly snow but some sleet or freezing rain mixed in at times. Towards mid-morning s…

Snow moved into the western Maine mountains afternoon on the 5th. Snow became moderate to occasionally heavy on northern edge of the precipitation shield through the late evening. Warmer temperatures in the lower elevations resulted in significantly less snow in some valleys than…

Drought maintained through the beginning of October with no significant rainfall across the region. Things changed on October 13th when a significant rainstorm brought widespread rainfall across the region. Another significant rainstorm occurred on October 16-17th with more benef…

Drought continued to expand and intensified through the month of September with the state of Maine recording the driest September on record. D2 severe drought expanded to cover all of Western Maine by the end of the month. In addition, an area of D3 extreme drought developed acro…

Tropical Storm Isaias brought limited impacts to Franklin County due wind gusts up to 45 mph. Scattered reports of snapped and uprooted trees along with broken branches caused downed power lines through the county. Franklin County reported 3,000 customers without power, with a re…

Rain changed to snow across Franklin County late on May 8th into the early morning hours on May 9th and accumulated anywhere between 3 and 9 inches by early afternoon. A few selected amounts were 7.5 inches in Madrid, 7 inches in Oquossoc, and 5 inches in Stratton.

Precipitation overspread northern Franklin County during the morning of the 9th as mostly rain at the lower elevations, and some snow in the mountains. Temperatures gradually cooled into the upper 30s, but by late afternoon heavier precipitation moved in, temperatures fell to the…

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 le…

A mid level warm front lifting northward brought snow showers to the area for much of the day on the 26th. A break in precipitation occurred overnight followed by a large area of heavy precipitation moving in before dawn on the 27th. Heavy, wet snow came down for most of the firs…

Light snow began on the morning of the 18th ahead of an approaching front. During the afternoon snow became moderate to heavy at times when a secondary wave developed near the southern New England coast. Snow quickly came to an end in the evening, but not before 6 to 8 inches of …

Precipitation began as wet snow in the western Maine mountains and remained mostly snow as secondary low pressure developed in the Gulf of Maine. Snow became heavy at times during the evening of the 27th, with numerous reports of thunder snow from the White Mountains through Carr…

By midday on the 24th precipitation overspread the western Maine mountains. Strong lift helped cool a marginal air mass so that any rain or mix flipped to moderate to heavy snow in the afternoon and evening. This was especially true where easterly flow was upsloping into the high…

Snow began late on the 21st but did not become heavy at times until early on the 22nd. With a warmer late season boundary layer a combination of dynamic, evaporational, and upslope cooling allowed precipitation to stay mostly snow in the mountains of western Maine. Lower elevatio…

Snow began in the evening and quickly became moderate to heavy in the late evening. The snow continued into the morning hours when precipitation quickly ended from west to east. Snow accumulations ranged from 8 to 12 inches.