As promised, plenty of white stuff – of the fluffy variety – fell on the first official day of winter and the first big nor’easter of the season.
Eustis wins this storm’s most snow award with 41 inches measured by official National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather observer Betty Wing. This is Wing’s 46th year as an official observer and she noted, “this is the most snow I can remember falling in one storm.” A close second, she said, came in the early 1960s, when she measured 36 inches.
Another inch of snow fell today in the Eustis/Stratton area, and gusty winds picked up at about noon. Blowing, drifting snow is causing whiteouts too. The high on Sunday was 5 degrees and the low on the that morning was 19 below, Wing said. She noted that the snow is very fluffy and the field measurement (out of the precipitation measuring device) was 38 inches.
A few miles south on Route 27, Sugarloaf ski area is reporting 28 to 32 inches more on the mountain. An employee said three feet fell just below the mountain in Carrabassett Valley. Despite all that fresh powder, high winds shut down the chair lifts today. Groomers had plenty to work with though – preparing for tomorrow’s skiers and riders. On the next mountain or two over, Saddleback ski area just above Rangeley, reports 24 inches was added to their already healthy snow base.
Down in Farmington, NOAA’s official weather observer Sheriff Dennis Pike said he measured 19.5 inches of fresh snow overnight. Measurements weren’t easy because of wind and drifting snow. He said, “a whisker this side of 17 inches fell on Sunday and another 2.5 inches more this morning,” before it was all over.
“The water content was very minimal because of the extremely cold temperatures,” Pike said. A normal snow to water ratio is 10 inches of snow producing 1 inch of water, but Pike said the fluffy snow that fell overnight was a 14 to 1 ratio. The coldest reading of the storm and, as it turns out, for the year, was 12.5 below at 4:40 a.m. on Dec. 21.
Although all this snow on roofs is not heavy Pike warned that homeowners should get their roofs cleared off because sleet and freezing rain is on the way Wednesday.
“Snow acts just like a sponge,” he said, and all that light fluffy snow will become much, much heavier when the rain comes.
