Looking ahead to late week, there is the chance for snow event for much of the state. Blocking over the north Atlantic along with cold air from Labrador seeping south sets up the potential for a heavy wet snow event for the western Maine interior and northern areas. For eastern areas, Bangor may have a better chance than Eastport or Bar Harbor. Shoreline areas from Rockland to Kittery may escape with more rain than snow.

Three things at play here. The northern and southern jet streams phasing together. Upper level energy from both streams. Then cold the cold air. Needless to say, timing is everything with this one.

The loop above is from the European ensembles. Those little L's indicate potential positions of an area low pressure. Typical of winter, low pressure exits the Great Lakes and then transfers energy to a rapidly developing coastal low over the Gulf of Maine. These little L's show uncertainty. As with any spring storm that hints at a solid snow event, track is important to figure out who gets what and how much. 

Another wrench in this is ridge moving northeast just slightly ahead of the storm. If that guidance suggestion rings true, that could make the difference on where the rain / snow line form. 

For now, a mix of rain and snow is possible Thursday. What happens Thursday night into Friday morning is still to be determined. That has everything to do with timing.

Above here are projected wind speeds at roughly 1700 feet above ground level. This means the storm could pack a concerning amount of wind if it mixes downward.  Add wet snow to this, and there are potential for power outages. Fortunately, the foliage has not come in yet, which helps cut down on potential loss of service. 

Another concern, astronomical tides increase as the week unfolds and into the weekend. Our shorelines could take a beating if all the pieces come together right. If you look real close in the loop, you can see the center of the storm hugging the shoreline. This could bring strong wind to the shorelines, and storm surge to possibly contend with.

At this point, the best thing to do is keep your supply stock up in case of power loss. Given the environment we are in with the pandemic, send one person to the store to get needed supplies so everyone can get through in a timely manner. Make sure the generator is fueled up and ready for use. 

Since we are heading into mid-April, this won't hang around long. Temperatures warm up as we head into the weekend. 

Stay tuned for more updates. 

​Feel free to use the many pages available on this website for many types of forecasts on rainfall, snowfall, marine, longer range CPC outlooks, and maps. 

Thank you as always for your support! 

​Stay healthy and safe! 

​► ► For the latest official forecasts, bulletins and advisories, please check in with the National Weather Service in Gray for western and southern areas, or Caribou for northern and eastern parts of Maine.

Always stay weather aware!

​- Mike

Any areas seeing sun will likely see it disappear Sunday afternoon as a cold front approaches. Scattered showers break out over northern and western areas by around mid-afternoon and reach the coast by 7 - 9 PM. As quickly as they come, they end. Northern and western areas see showers taper off by 10 PM - midnight Monday. For the coastal plain, showers end by around midnight - 2 AM Monday.  Some areas see some light accumulations of rainfall, others may not get much, if any. 

Behind the cold front Sunday, a trough settles in over the region for Monday and Tuesday. A storm forms along a ridge over the midwest and could bring a mix of rain and snow to southern New England on Wednesday. Showers may impact far southern areas of Maine, but most of the rest of the region sees clouds and breezy conditions Wednesday into Thursday.

The ridge over the midwest appears to try to nudge northeast Thursday. While that happens, an area of low pressure and an associated cold front taps into cooler air over Labrador and potentially brings snow for interior areas and rain potential for the coast. It's a bit early to determine snowfall amounts and where the rain/snow line converges. This is a low confidence forecast for now. Stay tuned for updates on this as the week unfolds. 

After the showers pass through the region Sunday night, the outlook is generally drier than normal through Thursday. The pattern again becomes more active and will change this outcome as we head towards the weekend.

While southern areas have chance to reach 60° on Monday, generally, the trend is cooler than normal overall through Friday.

For those curious, I have a page set up with 6-10 day outlooks from the Climate Prediction Center that automatically update twice daily. 

​Feel free to use the many pages available on this website for many types of forecasts on rainfall, snowfall, marine, longer range CPC outlooks, and maps. 

Thank you as always for your support! 

​Stay healthy and safe! 

​► ► For the latest official forecasts, bulletins and advisories, please check in with the National Weather Service in Gray for western and southern areas, or Caribou for northern and eastern parts of Maine.

Always stay weather aware!

​- Mike

While Maine was spared the worst of this one, that isn't the case for southern New England. Reports of wind gusts in 40-60 mph range have led to down trees and power outages along the South Shore, Cape Cod and the islands. The storm backed in near the benchmark 40°N / 70° W point before moving southeast Friday afternoon. Parts of Maine received 1-2"+ of rain, and some splash-over along low lying areas with the Friday morning high tide. Land wind gusts ranged in the 20-30 mph level across interior areas, with 30-40 mph along the shorelines. 

As of Friday afternoon, all that is left is scattered showers, along with areas of fog and drizzle. As the storm continues to pull away, the showers will become widely scattered. The last of the rain drops fall around daybreak Saturday or just thereafter in southern areas of the state. Clouds should break up over northern areas Saturday morning, and for the rest of the region by Saturday afternoon. I am still going with partial sun for the region as a weak upper level disturbance keeps the clouds around through Saturday night. Coastal areas feeling the breeze Saturday morning will see that drop by around noon. 

A weak cold front approaches the region Sunday. Any morning sun yields to increasing clouds during the day. Scattered light rain shower activity breaks out over the mountains and north by late afternoon. The shower activity heads for the coast Sunday night. The front appears to clear the coast in the wee hours of Monday. 

A powerful ocean storm backs into New England on Friday southeast of Georges Bank and near the 40° N / 70° W benchmark point before moving southeast and away from the region Friday night. Rain will be the main source of precipitation along with breezy conditions through the day.

Peak wind gusts come Friday morning in the 20-30 mph range, 30-40 mph for the higher elevations, coastal shorelines and islands. The breeze will be slow to subside Friday afternoon and night, and settle down by around midday Saturday.

Southwestern coastal areas may hear a rumble of thunder in the wee hours of Friday morning until around mid-morning. No severe weather is expected.

For northern areas, the precipitation ends before daylight Friday. For the western and eastern parts of the state, it will be roughly mid-afternoon to early evening. For southern areas, the last of the showers fall in before sunrise Saturday. 

With upper level disturbances trailing the ocean storm, I am going with partial sun for both Saturday and Sunday. A weak cold front works through the region Sunday night in the wee hours of Monday which may bring a snow shower to the north and a rain shower elsewhere. After that, the outlook appears dry until the middle part of next week. 

Blocking south of Greenland over the Atlantic creates a traffic jam for the storms to the south and east. It will take a couple of days for the area of high pressure to weaken, and allow the storms in the region to move eastward. 

The result is a backdoor cold front being pushed in from east to west. For those longing for spring, this is clear sign that it is on the way. Snow showers will be the main feature on Wednesday into Wednesday night, with some areas of light sleet and freezing rain. Any frozen precipitation changes to rain for most areas on Thursday. Showers end for most but southern areas by Friday morning. Along with the precipitation, will come the breeze from the storm offshore, along with 10-15' surf and a 1-2' storm surge. Astronomical tides are building heading towards the weekend, but the worst should be over by then. Some minor splash-over is possible for low lying areas with the Friday morning high tide around 7 AM.

Higher elevations get the most snow, and most of this falls Wednesday into Wednesday night. 

After the storm moves to the east on Friday, the breeze gradually settles down Friday night into Saturday. Saturday looks partly to mostly sunny at times as an upper air disturbance works through the region. Clouds increase Sunday as a weak clipper moves through the region Sunday afternoon into the night., which may bring a shower. Temperatures gradually warm through Sunday. The next widespread storm of any concern appears roughly mid next week.

​Feel free to use the many pages available on this website for many types of forecasts on rainfall, snowfall, marine, longer range CPC outlooks and maps. 

Thank you as always for your support! 

​► ► For the latest official forecasts, bulletins and advisories, please check in with the National Weather Service in Gray for western and southern areas, or Caribou for northern and eastern parts of Maine.

Always stay weather aware!

​- Mike