Winter Storm in Maine, December 17 to 18, 2001

Name: Winter Storm in Maine, December 17 to 18, 2001
Start: 2001-12-17T17:00
End: 2001-12-18T17:00
Location: Maine

December 17 to 18, 2001 · NWS CAR · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

Intensifying low pressure tracking just south of the Gulf of Maine brought 5 to 8 inches of snow to the region.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 5 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 5

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS CAR wrote it up.

Intensifying low pressure tracking just south of the Gulf of Maine brought 5 to 8 inches of snow to the region.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Caribou, ME wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 17, 3:47 PM EST, 1 hour 13 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 17, 3:47 PM EST, 1 hour 13 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CARIBOU ME
300 PM EST MON DEC 17 2001

.SYNOPSIS...
LOW PRESSURE WILL TRACK FROM THE CENTRAL APPALACHIANS ALONG THE SOUTHERN NEW
ENGLAND COAST TONIGHT...THEN CONTINUE EAST NORTHEAST...PASSING SOUTH OF NOVA
SCOTIA LATE TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT. A WEAK WAVE OF LOW PRESSURE WILL SLIP
SOUTH OF THE REGION WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY.

.DISCUSSION...
LATEST SFC ANALYSIS PLACES WARM FRONT FROM UPPER OHIO EWRD ACROSS SRN
NEW ENGLAND.  SFC LOW PRES TROF EXTENDS FROM THE NERN OHIO VALLEY
SSWRD ALONG THE WRN APPALACHIANS.  ALOFT...POSITIVELY TILTED LONG
WAVE TROF EXTENDS NE-SW FROM THE GRT LAKES TO THE SRN MISSISSIPPI
RIVER VALLEY...

INITIAL SHORT WAVE LIFTING ENE OUT OF LONG WAVE TROF OVER CENTRAL US LEADING
TO A BURST OF WAA OVERRUNNING -SN/SN ACROSS WRN/CENTRAL NEW ENGLAND ATTM.
THIS SHOT OF MOISTURE WILL MOVE RAPIDLY EWRD THIS EVE AS MAIN SYSTEM BEGINS
TO TAKE SHAPE SW OF THE AREA.  MODELS FINALLY IN BETTER AGREEMENT
ON UPCOMING SYSTEM THO DIFFS STILL EXIST.  ATTM...BELIEVE THE DEEPER AND
SOMEWHAT SLOWER AVN THE WAY TO GO AS IT HAS BEEN MOST CONSISTENT LAST FEW
RUNS.  AVN HAS SHIED AWAY FROM PHASING TWO IMPORTANT SHORT WAVES MOVING
THRU THE LONG WAVE TROF WHICH IT WAS SHOWING SEVERAL RUNS AGO SO WEAKER
AND MORE PROGRESSIVE ETA WAS NOT ENTIRELY OUT TO LUNCH.  AS USUAL...APPEARS
A MODEL CONSENSUS WAS THE WAY TO GO IN THE LONGER TERM...  IN ANY CASE...
PER THE LATEST AVN RUN...DOES NOT APPEAR THAT A MAJOR BOMB TOO LIKELY TO
OCCUR PER THE LACK OF PHASING OF THE AFOREMENTIONED UPPER FEATURES.
HOWEVER...SYSTEM APPEARS TO HAVE ENUF STRENGTH AND WILL TRACK CLOSE ENUF
TO OUR CWA TO BE A CONCERN.  ALSO...COULD STILL SEE SOME SIGNIFICANT
PHASING AND STRENGTHENING OF THIS SYSTEM AND THIS WILL BE MONITORED
CLOSELY.  AFTER COORD W/ GYX...WILL ISSUE WNTR WX ADV FOR OUR DOWNEAST
ZONES TONIGHT AND TUESDAY.  LATEST AVN QPF PROGS SUGGEST ABOUT .10 AMOUNTS
ACROSS THE N W/ AROUND .20 TO .30 CENTRAL TRENDING TO AROUND .50 INCHES
COASTAL AREAS.  PRECIP EXPECTED TO BE MOSTLY SNOW EXCEPT IMMEDIATE COASTAL
AREAS WHERE A MIX TO ZR/PL OR EVEN RA A POSSIBILITY.  WILL GO W/ 1-2
INCHES NRN ZONES...2-4 INCHES CENTRAL AND 3-6 INTERIOR DOWNEAST AND 2-4
ALONG THE COAST.  EXPECT PRECIP TO WIND DOWN FROM W-E LATE AM OR ERLY AFTN
W/ LINGERING SW- MAINLY N AND NWRN MTNS.

DRIER AIR ARRIVES BEHIND THIS SYSTEM TUE NIGHT THO WILL KEEP MENTION OF LOW
CHANCE POPS FOR SW- IN WEAK CYCLONIC FLOW.  NWRLY FLOW TO PREVAIL NEXT FEW
DAYS W/ TEMPS NEAR OR A FEW DEGREES ABOVE SEASONAL NORMS.  A WEAK
DISTURBANCE PROGGED TO TRACK SE PASSING S OF THE REGION WED NGT AND THU
BUT ATTM DO NOT EXPECT IT TO PRODUCE ANY WX FOR OUR AREA.  THEREAFTER...
NWRLY FLOW PREVAILS W/ A SLIGHT THREAT OF SW- ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE N AT
JUST ABOUT ANYTIME BUT NOT SIGNIFICANT ENUF TO MENTION FOR EVERYDAY AT
THIS POINT.  BOTTOM LINE...NO SIGNIFICANT STORMS EXPECTED THRU THE PERIOD...

COASTAL WATERS...
WILL HEADLINE SCA TONIGHT W/ APPROACHING SYSTEM THEN POSSIBILITY OF GLW TUE
NGT AFTER SYSTEM MOVES E OF THE WATERS AND INTENSIFIES.

.CAR...SCA
       WNTR WX ADV TONIGHT AND TUESDAY FOR SNOW ZNS 15>17
       WNTR WX ADV TONIGHT AND TUESDAY ZNS 29/30

KHW

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Central Washington

When: December 17, 5:00 PM EST to December 18, 5:00 PM EST
Where: Central Washington forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.970, -67.609 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Coastal Hancock

When: December 17, 5:00 PM EST to December 18, 5:00 PM EST
Where: Coastal Hancock forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.563, -68.368 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Coastal Washington

When: December 17, 5:00 PM EST to December 18, 5:00 PM EST
Where: Coastal Washington forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.970, -67.609 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Interior Hancock

When: December 17, 5:00 PM EST to December 18, 5:00 PM EST
Where: Interior Hancock forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.563, -68.368 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Southern Penobscot

When: December 17, 5:00 PM EST to December 18, 5:00 PM EST
Where: Southern Penobscot forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.401, -68.649 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Winter Storm: A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Maine in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Maine, December 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5274490, 5274491, 5274573, 5274574, 5274575.