A Late March Northern New England Snow and Ice Storm & Big April Follow-up Storm

Today's blog is about an early Spring Snow and Ice storm we received here in Southern Maine, and some of the beautiful pictures from it. We also had the BIGGEST storm of the winter 2023-2024 in Springtime -on April 4th. All of that in today's blog.

(Photo: Ice coated trees in our backyard forest! Credit: R.G.) 

    

 Here in northern New England, Winter likes to remind us that it's still around, even though we moved into meteorological springtime back on March 1st. 

(Photo: Reflection of sunlight through the forest the day after the storm, highlighting some of the ice covered branches. Credit: R.G.)

The 2024 March equinox happened on March 20 at 3:06 UTC. So many parts of the world saw the equinox arrive on March 19.

There are several climate zones in the eastern U.S. and if you were in the Mid-Atlantic you saw temperatures in the 60s and 70s, and the Cherry Blossoms bloomed on a record early date around the Washington, D.C. tidal basin. But here in southern Maine and the other New England States, we were above the climate zone "line" where winter kept its grip. Granted, in March we saw temperatures reach into the low 50s, and even 60 F, but the average high is 47F during mid-March, and the average low is around 28F.

(Photo: Rob took this when we went out for lunch and thought it was artistic. Credit: R.G.)

During the weekend of March 22-23rd, we were cold enough for snow on Saturday, March 22nd and we received about 3 to 4 inches of snow. Meanwhile, central and northern Maine was walloped with snow totals between 6 and 18 inches (most in the northwestern part of the state where the mountains lie). 

(Photos right: A row of iced trees in a retail parking lot that were just beautiful. Credit: R.G.) 

The coastal areas got the heaviest winds (we were spared being 25 miles from the coast) and had the most power outages as freezing rain and gusty winds to 25 mph took down trees and weighted power lines.

Maine is a state that knows how to take care of its roads. All roads were treated, and the next day, all main roads were clear and dry (the winds helped with the drying. What a pleasure to live in a state that knows how to handle snow!

AFTERMATH - By Monday, March 25, all the ice was a memory and there was only about 1 to 1 1/2" of snow on the grassy areas.

 (Photos: Our backyard forest on March 24, with 4 inches of snow remaining after the .10 of an inch of ice melted and fell off the trees! Credit: R.G.) 

WINTER COUGHS OUT A LAST STORM IN APRIL! 

On Thursday, April 8th, a low pressure area moved north along the Atlantic U.S. Coast, bringing soaking rainfall from the Carolinas to Massachusetts. But here in southern Maine, it was 1" of SLEET followed by 8" of SNOW making for the heaviest snow ever. 

We were hoping it would remain a mix at worst, but that didn't happen. Further north and west of us, snow totals topped 18" and more in the western Maine mountains. Over 300,000 people lost power, and 5 days later there were still about 9,000 people without power. On Monday, April 8th, the low pressure area that sat in the Gulf of Maine for 5 days moved east and away from the state. That brought Clear Skies and Sunshine for today, April 8th- perfect timing for the total eclipse of the Sun which happens this afternoon.