Extreme Cold in Maine, February 17 to 18, 2001

Name: Extreme Cold in Maine, February 17 to 18, 2001
Start: 2001-02-17T17:00
End: 2001-02-18T04:00
Location: Maine

February 17 to 18, 2001 · NWS CAR · 7 events in 7 counties and zones

Gusty northwest winds of 15 to 25 mph combined with temperatures falling below zero to producewind chills between 45 and 55 below zero at times.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 7 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: 7

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.

Gusty northwest winds of 15 to 25 mph combined with temperatures falling below zero to producewind chills between 45 and 55 below zero at times.

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 Feb 17, 1:43 PM EST, 3 hours 17 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 17, 1:43 PM EST, 3 hours 17 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CARIBOU ME
143 PM EST SAT FEB 17 2001

.SYNOPSIS...LOW PRESSURE MOVING NORTHEAST THROUGH NEWFOUNDLAND TONIGHT WILL
BRING COLD ARCTIC AIR INTO NORTHERN AND DOWNEAST MAINE ON STIFF NORTHWEST
WINDS. THEN EXPECT WINDS TO DECREASE AND BECOME WEST BY SUNDAY AS HIGH
PRESSURE FROM THE MIDWEST MOVES INTO THE TENNESSEE VALLEY. LOW PRESSURE
DEVELOPING OVER THE GREAT LAKES ON MONDAY WILL BRING THE NEXT CHANCE OF
MEASURABLE SNOWFALL TO THE REGION BY MONDAY NIGHT.

DISCUSSION...
ALL MODELS SHOW BRISK WIND POTENTIAL OVRNGT WITH PROGGED NW BL WIND SPEEDS
OF 25 TO 30 KT THRU 06Z SUN...DECREASING TO ARND 20 KT BY 12Z SUN. ATTM...
GIVEN PROGGED 1000-850 MB LAPSE RATES DECREASING AFT 00Z...FEEL THERE IS
LIMITED GUST POTENTIAL ABV 30 KT THIS EVE...EXCEPT ALG THE DOWN E COAST
WHERE LLVL LAPSE RATES REMAIN UNSATBLE LONGER INTO THE NIGHT. COMBINATION
OF WINDS AND FALLING TEMPS FAVOR A WIND CHILL WARNING N AND A WIND CHILL
ADV DOWNEAST TNGT.

THE ONLY DESCREPENCY IN TDYS MODELS ARE FOUND BETWEEN THE ETA AND NGM
PROGGED 925 MB TEMPS LATE TNGT INTO SUN...WHICH THE ETA IS RUNNING ABOUT 5
DEG C COLDER. CHECKING THE LATEST 925 MB ANAL FROM 12Z THIS MORN...WE FEEL
THAT THE ETA MAY HAVE INITIALIZED BETTER ON THE LESS THAN -30 DEG C AIR
OVR N CNTRL QB. SUBSEQUENTLY...WE WILL LEAN MORE TOWARD COLDER MAV/FAN
TEMPS FOR HIGHS SUN.

OTHERWISE...WILL CUT POPS THRU MON...WITH ONLY LIMITED MOISTURE TO WORK
WITH INITIAL WARM ADVCN XPCTED TO BEGIN LATE SUN AND CONT THRU MON.
WILL MENTION A FEW FLURRIES N SUN THU MON...OTHERWISE NO SN ELSEWHERE.

EXTENDED: A MORE SIGNIFICANT S/WV FROM THE GREAT LAKES COULD BRING MORE
GENERAL LIGHT SNOW MON NGT INTO TUE. THE SOUTHWARD PROGRESS OF THE COLD
FRONT BEHIND THIS SYSTEM THRU OUR FA WILL NEED TO BE MONITORED...SINCE
THE PSN OF THIS FRONT BEFORE IT BECOMES STATIONARY WILL BE KEY WITH THE
TRACK OF A MORE IMPORTANT S/WV-SFC LOW WED AFT AND NGT. WILL MENTION A
CHC SN NORTH AND A CHC RN OR SN DOWNEAST WITH THIS SYSTEM FOR THE TIME
BEING.

COASTAL WATERS: STRONG LLVL COLD ADVCN AND STEEP 1000-850MB LAPSE RATES
THIS EVE ARGUE FOR STRONG GALES TNGT...DIMINSHING TO SCA RANGE BY DAYBREAK
AS LLVL LAPSE RATES AND NW BL WINDS DECREASE. WRLY SCA WINDS ON SUN SHOULD
DECREASE BELOW SCA RANGE SUN NGT AS DIRECTION BACKS TO SW...AND THEN BACK
TO SCA ON MON RANGE AS LLVL WARM ADVCN INCREASES SLOWLY.

.CAR...WIND CHIULL WARNING TONIGHT ZONES 1>6...10 AND 11.
       WIND CHILL ADVISORY TONIGHT ZONES 15>17...29 AND 30.

       COASTAL WATERS...GALE WARNING.

VJN

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

7 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Central Penobscot

When: February 17, 5:00 PM EST to February 18, 4:00 AM EST
Where: Central Penobscot forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 45.401, -68.649 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Northeast Aroostook

When: February 17, 5:00 PM EST to February 18, 4:00 AM EST
Where: Northeast Aroostook forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 46.659, -68.599 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Northern Penobscot

When: February 17, 5:00 PM EST to February 18, 4:00 AM EST
Where: Northern Penobscot forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 45.401, -68.649 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Northern Piscataquis

When: February 17, 5:00 PM EST to February 18, 4:00 AM EST
Where: Northern Piscataquis forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 45.837, -69.284 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Northwest Aroostook

When: February 17, 5:00 PM EST to February 18, 4:00 AM EST
Where: Northwest Aroostook forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 46.659, -68.599 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Southeast Aroostook

When: February 17, 5:00 PM EST to February 18, 4:00 AM EST
Where: Southeast Aroostook forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 46.659, -68.599 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Southern Piscataquis

When: February 17, 5:00 PM EST to February 18, 4:00 AM EST
Where: Southern Piscataquis forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 45.837, -69.284 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill: Temperatures or wind chills at or below the local warning criteria, or cold that caused deaths.

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, February 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: 5232780, 5232781, 5232782, 5232783, 5232784, 5232785, 5232786.