Very strong west to northwest winds developed in the wake of a cold frontal passage associatedwith low pressure crossing the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Every event with a place to put it; 12 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS CAR wrote it up.
Very strong west to northwest winds developed in the wake of a cold frontal passage associatedwith low pressure crossing the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Sustained winds of 30 to 40 mph were commonacross the region...with gusts to between 60 and 70 mph.Numerous reports of downed trees...powerlines and utility poles were received from across all of northern and eastern Maine. At the height of the storm...over ten thousand people were withoutpower across the region at times.Many road signs were damaged or blown over...with some traffic lights also toppled. The strong windsproduced some structural damage...particularly to siding and roof shingles. An old barn was blown over and destroyed at Waltham in Hancock county...with debris from the collapsing barn damagingthe adjacent house and garage. A tree was toppled onto a house in the Piscataquis county town of Monson breaking off its chimney. Some roads were blocked by fallen trees and other debris. A tractor trailer was reported blown off I-95 by strong cross winds. A 19 foot boat moored at Bar Harbor was capsized at its dock.
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 Feb 10, 2:11 AM EST, 6 hours 49 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CARIBOU ME
211 AM EST SAT FEB 10 2001
.SYNOPSIS...LOW PRESSURE WILL MOVE NORTHEAST INTO QUEBEC PROVINCE THIS
MORNING. A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL CROSS THE REGION THIS AFTERNOON WITH VERY
WINDY CONDITIONS DEVELOPING. AN ARCTIC AIRMASS WILL BE USHERED IN BEHIND THE
COLD FRONT TONIGHT INTO SUNDAY WITH DANGEROUSLY COLD WIND CHILL VALUES.
DISCUSSION...
COORD W/GYX. THANX TFH!. WILL DROP WSW THIS PKG. SOME POCKETS OF FZRA STL
PSBL MAINLY VLYS. HIGH WIND/WIND CHILL WRNGS WILL BE MAIN ISSUES. WILL CONT
W/AVN-GEM SOLN BASED ON PERFORMANCE OVER PAST FEW RUNS. GEM ACTUALLY DOING
THE BEST JOB OVERALL W/STRENGTH OF INTENSE LOW MOVG ACRS SRN QUEBEC THIS
MRNG.
KCBW 88D TRENDS SHOWING LARGE BATCH OF RA MOVG NE THRU CNTL/DOWNEAST
ME. TEMPS IN THESE AREAS WELL ABV 32F. FURTHER N ACRS CAR-FVE...TEMPS STL
BLO 32F W/FZRA CONTG. AREA OF FZRA PUSHING THRU NWRN ME SHOULD ARRIVE INTO
NERN ME W/IN NEXT FEW HRS. WILL STL HAVE TO DEAL W/FRZG PCPN & ICING CONDS
THRU MRNG HRS. TEMPS HAVE SLOWLY RISEN OVER NRN AREAS W/FAR NRN ME AOB
32F. ? IS WHAT TO DO W/WSW FOR ZNS 1-2?. WE FEEL TEMPS WILL GO ABV 32F IN
MOST PLACES BY 12Z...XCPT FOR VLYS WHR COLD AIR WILL BE TUFF TO SCOUR
OUT. 06Z SFC ANAL SHOWD FRZG LINE DRAPED ACRS NRN/CNTL ME. WILL DECIDE AFT
FURTHER DISC IN-HOUSE & COOP CALLS. OTHER CONCERNS TDY...THE STG WINDS
PROGGED TO MOVE IN LATER TDY. 65-70 KT LLVL JET ACRS NRN NYS @ 00Z. KCBW
SHOWING >55 KTS ACRS CNTL/DOWNEAST ME FM SW. STABLE AIRMASS WILL KP THOSE
STG WINDS @ BAY. SOME OF THOSE WINDS COULD MIX DOWN W/AREA OF RA MOVG
ACRS THAT AREA. THK BIGGER THREAT COMES LATER THIS MRNG-AFTN AS CD FNT
ACPHS & WIND DIR GOES WLY W/CAA KICKING IN. WOULDN/T BE SURPRISED TO HEAR
RPRTS OF 60+ MPH GUSTS ESP IN HIER TRRN. PD OF SN/SHSN COMBINED W/STG WINDS
WILL LEAD TO WHITEOUT/BLIZZARD CONDS @ TIMES. MILD TEMPS WILL PLUMMET THIS
AFTN.
-26 TO -28C @ H8 TO ARRIVE INTO THE CWFA TNGT ON STG NWLY WINDS. DESPITE
CLDS BEING ARND & LEFTOVER SHSN...TEMPS SHOULD DIVE BLO 0 OVER THE N &
INTO THE SINGLE NMBRS DOWNEAST. THIS WILL LEAD TO WIND CHILLS -50 T0 -60F.
WILL PUT UP WIND CHILL WRNG TNGT-SUN. TEMPS ON SUN OVER THE N ARE LUCKY IF
THEY BUST 5-10F WHILE DOWNEAST WILL BE IN MID-TEENS DESPITE SOME
SUNSHINE/DOWNSLOPE. BACK TO REALITY!.
EXTENDED PD: WILL LOWER MINS A TAD FOR SUN NGT AS ARCTIC BEGINS TO BLD IN
FM CNTL CAN. OTRW...CAN/T FIND ANY REASON TO ADJUST LATTER PDS.
COASTAL WATERS: STM WRNG UP AS WINDS INC TO STM CRIT TDY. STG CAA W/STG
WINDS IN LLVLS BEING TRANSPORTED TO THE SFC. MGT SEE CONDS RELAX A BIT ON
SUN...BUT W/CONTD CAA & TIGHT PRES GRDNT...FRQT GUSTS OF 50 ARE PSBL.
>
.CAR...HIGH WIND WARNING ALL ZNS FOR SATURDAY AFTERNOON.
WIND CHILL WARNING TONIGHT AND SUNDAY FOR ALL ZONES.
STORM WARNING.
JOEThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
12 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Maine in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Maine, February 2001
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: 5232900, 5232901, 5232902, 5232903, 5232904, 5232905, 5232906, 5232907, 5232908, 5232909, 5232910, 5232911.