Maine, 2001

Heavy Snow in Maine, February 2 to 3, 2001

February 2 to 3, 2001 · NWS GYX · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Low pressure intensifying slowly off the New England coast brought a light to moderate snowfall to the state. Snowfall amounts across western and central Maine ranged from about an inch in York County to 2 to 5 inches in the western foothills.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
2

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 GYX wrote it up.

Low pressure intensifying slowly off the New England coast brought a light to moderate snowfall to the state. Snowfall amounts across western and central Maine ranged from about an inch in York County to 2 to 5 inches in the western foothills. The mountains generally received about 2 to 4 inches.

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 Gray, ME wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 2, 1:57 PM EST, 5 hours 3 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 2, 1:57 PM EST, 5 hours 3 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAY ME
157 PM EST FRI FEB 2 2001

INSTALLATION OF UPS WED...THU AND TODAY MEANT POWERING DOWN ALL
EQUIPMENT AND BRINGING ALL EQUIPMENT BACK ON LINE TODAY.  AWIPS
SUFFERED THE MOST THROUGH THIS PROCESS WHICH WAS COMPLICATED BY
FAILURE OF A COUPLE OF PARTS THAT NEEDED REPLACEMENT.

AT THIS TIME AWIPS FUNCTIONALITY IS LIMITED SOMEWHAT BUT NOW ABLE TO
USE IT ALONG WITH LOCAL BACKUP TO ISSUE PRODUCTS.  BACKUP OFFICES...
BTV...CAR AND BOX SUPPLIED WEATHER SUPPORT AND WE APPRECIATE THAT
GREATLY!

THE WEATHER SITUATION FOR TONIGHT IS A COMPLICATED ONE AND WE DONT
HAVE FULL ACCESS TO ALL MODEL DATA...OR HAVE TO USE BACKUP METHODS
TO VIEW IT.

THE 12Z AVN IS AVAILABLE IN OUR AWIPS AND HAS BEEN THE MODEL OF
CHOICE LATELY.  IT IS THE MOST AGRESSIVE WITH SYSTEM TONIGHT.
BUFKIT ETA/NGM SHOWING QPF FOR TONIGHT BUT ALSO SHOW VERY UNSTABLE
AIR WITH TOTAL TOTALS PUSHING 60!  PAST MODEL RUNS AND 12Z AVN SHOW
AN AXIS OF LOW LI VALUES OVER SE NH AND SW ME ALONG WITH HIGH RH AND
THE AXIS OF HIGHER 850 MB TEMPS. AVN SHOWS A STRONG VORT MAX WITH
STRONG PVA MOVING THROUGH OVERNIGHT.  MAIN...DEEPENING SURFACE LOW
WELL OUT TO SEA BUT A LOW PRESSURE TROF HANGS BACK AND EXTENDS ACROSS
THE FA AND IS THE FOCUS OF LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE UNDER THE AREA OF
BEST PVA AND INSTABILITY.  THE AVN HAS MORE QPF THE BUFKITS NGM/ETA
AND FOCUSES THE HIGHEST QPF OVER THE MOST FAVORED REGION AS JUST
DISCUSSED.

PRECIPITATION TYPE SHOULD BE ALL SNOW WITH VERTICAL TEMPERATURE
PROFILE PLENTY COLD ENOUGH.  THE SYSTEM PULLS OUT TO THE EAST
EARLY SATURDAY AND SHOULD BRING A QUICK END TO THE SNOW FOLLOWED BY
CLEARING...ESPECIALLY IN FAVORED DOWNSLOPE AREAS.  MOSTLY CLEAR
SKIES UNDER A SURFACE RIDGE SATURDAY NIGHT AND DEEP SNOW COVER WILL
ALLOW FOR GOOD RADIATIONAL COOLING AND COLD MINS.

THE OUTLOOK IS FOR UNSETTLED WX WITH A COUPLE OF BOUTS WITH SNOW OR
AT LEAST A CHANCE OF SNOW.  USED THE MRF/FMR FCSTS FOR DAYS 3-5 AND
DAYS 6&7.

CWF...
12Z AVN AND THE 12Z MRPCWN WIND FCST FROM THE NGM NOT SUPPORTING
THE STRONG SCA WINDS IN THE PREVIOUS COASTAL WATERS FORECAST.  WILL
SCALE BACK BELOW SCA CRITERIA WITH TROF HOLDING OVER THE REGION
TONIGHT AND SLOWLY LIFTING EASTWARD ON SAT.  THE BEST CHANCE FOR
INCREASING WINDS WILL BE THE WNW FLOW SOUTH OF THE TROF AXIS...THAT
IS OVER THE SOUTHERN MOST PORTION OF THE COASTAL WATERS.

PLEASE NOTE THAT WE WILL CONTINUE TO TRY TO INGEST THE REST OF THE
12Z MODEL DATA AND WILL MONITOR CURRENT WEATHER AND THIS MAY LEAD
TO SOME CHANGES TO THE FORECAST THINKING AND SUBSEQUENTLY THE
FORECASTS.  HAVE NOT ISSUED THE WINTER WX ADV IN WWA YET...HOPE TO
vHAVE IT OUT SOMETIME THIS AFTERNOON.

GYX...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY TONIGHT NH ZONES 6/9/10/14 AND
      ME ZONES 12>14/18>28.

SJC

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Southern Franklin

When
February 2, 7:00 PM EST to February 3, 8:00 AM EST
Where
Southern Franklin forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
44.974, -70.444 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Southern Oxford

When
February 2, 7:00 PM EST to February 3, 8:00 AM EST
Where
Southern Oxford forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
44.500, -70.757 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Snow
Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Maine in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5232509, 5232510.