Maine, 2001

Winter Storm in Maine, January 30 to 31, 2001

January 30 to 31, 2001 · NWS CAR · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

Low pressure tracking eastward across the Great Lakes transferred energy to a secondary low whichdeveloped and intensified along the Maine coast during the 30th. The low then tracked to the maritime provinces during the early morning hours of the 31st.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 4 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
4

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.

Low pressure tracking eastward across the Great Lakes transferred energy to a secondary low whichdeveloped and intensified along the Maine coast during the 30th. The low then tracked to the maritime provinces during the early morning hours of the 31st. The storm produced 6 to 8 inches ofsnow across portions of northern and the mountains of central Maine.

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 Jan 30, 3:25 AM EST, 10 hours 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 30, 3:25 AM EST, 10 hours 35 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CARIBOU ME
325 AM EST TUE JAN 30 2001

.SYNOPSIS...
HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE WILL MOVE EAST OF THE REGION TODAY. LOW PRESSURE WILL
DEVELOP OVER SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND THIS EVENING...AND THEN TRACK ALONG THE
MAINE COAST TONIGHT. THIS LOW WILL PRODUCE SNOW FOR NORTHERN MAINE...SNOW
AND SLEET FOR CENTRAL MAINE AND...MOSTLY SLEET...FREEZING RAIN AND RAIN FOR
DOWNEAST SECTIONS.

DISCUSSION...
06Z SFC ANALYSIS PLACES 986MB LOW OVER NORTHWESTERN IOWA IN GOOD AGREEMENT
WITH ALL THREE MODELS BUT LOW 3MB DEEPER THAN FORECASTED.  SURFACE RIDGE
EXTENDS THROUGH THE STATE OF NEW YORK WITH COLD FRONT LYING EAST-WEST
SOUTH OF JAMES BAY. COMPARING MODELS...ETA FARTHER NORTH WITH LOW AT O6Z
TONIGHT WITH POSITION ALONG THE COAST OF MAINE WHILE AVN PLACES LOW JUST
SOUTH OF ETA POSITION. NGM LIKES COASTLINE TRACK ALSO BUT SLOWER THAN
ETA/AVN.

MODELS CONTINUE TO PUSH COLDER AIR FARTHER SOUTH WITH EACH RUN. MODELS
INDICATE A DOUBLE BARREL UPPER LOW STRUCTURE TO DEVELOP WITH FIRST TROUGH
TO CROSS THE REGION BETWEEN 03Z AND 09Z TONIGHT. SHORTWAVE RIDGE WILL BUILD
OVER THE REGION DURING THE DAY ON WEDNESDAY BEFORE THE NEXT TROUGH
APPROACHES THE REGION LATE WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. WILL TREND TOWARDS WETTER
AND NORTHERN TRACK OF ETA/NGM.  PRECIP WILL BE ALL SNOW IN THE MOST NORTHERN
ZONES TO MOSTLY ALL RAIN IN THE COASTAL ZONES WITH EVERYTHING ELSE IN
BETWEEN.

UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL BUILD OVER THE AREA IN ADVANCE OF UPPER LOW IN THE
CENTRAL MIDWEST TODAY . RIDGE CRESTS OVER THE STATE AROUND 18Z TODAY WITH
MID TO UPPER LEVEL CLOUDS INCREASING LATE THIS MORNING DOWNEAST AND THIS
AFTERNOON OVER NORTHERN SECTIONS. TRIPLE POINT LOW TO DEVELOP OVER SOUTHERN
NEW ENGLAND TONIGHT AROUND 00Z WITH FIRST UPPER LEVEL TROUGH. EXPECT LIGHT
SNOW TO DEVELOP LATE THIS AFTERNOON OVER MUCH OF OUR CWA. BY O3Z ENOUGH LOW
LEVEL WARM AIR WILL ADVECT INTO DOWNEAST ZONES TO CHANGE SNOW TO RAIN ALONG
THE COAST...WITH A MIX IN INTERIOR DOWNEAST ZONES...SNOW AND SLEET FOR
CENTRAL ZONES BUT STILL COLD ENOUGH FOR ALL SNOW IN NORTHERN ZONES. BEST
DYNAMICS WILL BE THROUGH CENTRAL MAINE WHERE 4 TO 7 INCHES OF SNOW MAY FALL.
ETA BUFKIT INDICATE ALL SNOW FOR 1 THROUGH 6 WITH A GOOD MIXTURE OF SNOW AND
SLEET FOR 10 AND 11 AND MIXED PRECIP FOR 15-17 AND MOSTLY RAIN FOR 29 AND
30. SYSTEM WILL QUICKLY MOVE EASTWARD TONIGHT AS SECOND UPPER LOW ACTING AS
KICKER. WITH QUICK MOVEMENT OF LOW...EXPECT ADVISORY SNOW FOR ZONES 1 AND
2. BEST CHANCE OF WARNING SNOW WILL BE ZONES 3-6 AS WITH BEST DYNAMICS AND A
CHANCE OF WRAP EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING AS LOW KICKS EASTWARD. TRICKY
FORECAST FOR CENTRAL AND INTERIOR DOWNEAST ZONES WITH SLEET AND FREEZING
RAIN THE PRIMARY PRECIP. WITH POSSIBILITY OF SIGNIFICANT SLEET FOR ZONES 10
AND 11 WILL GO WITH WARNING THERE...BUT WITH ONLY A SHORT PERIOD OF FREEZING
RAIN FOR INTERIOR DOWNEAST WILL GO WITH ADVISORY CONDITIONS THERE.

EXTENDED...
SHORTWAVE RIDGE WILL BUILD OVER THE AREA WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON BUT SECOND LOW
WILL TAKE A FARTHER SOUTHERLY TRACK WEDNESDAY NIGHT PROVIDING SNOW LIKELY
FOR DOWNEAST SECTIONS. HIGH PRESSURE SOUTH OF JAMES BAY MAY MOVE FAR
ENOUGH SOUTH TO PROVIDE PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES FOR NORTHERN ZONES WEDNESDAY
AFTERNOON INTO THURSDAY.

COASTAL WATERS...
WILL CONTINUE WITH SCA AS DISCUSSED WITH GYX. CAN NOT RULE OUT POSSIBLE
SHORT PERIOD OF GALE FORCE WINDS THIS EVENING BEFORE THE LOW TRACKS OVER
THE WATERS.

.CAR...WINTER STORM WARNING LATE TUESDAY AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT
       ZONES 003>006/10/11.
       WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY LATE TUESDAY AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT
       ZONES 001/002/015>017

COASTAL WIATER...SCA

FOSTER

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Northern Penobscot

When
January 30, 2:00 PM EST to January 31, 6:00 AM EST
Where
Northern Penobscot forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
45.401, -68.649 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Northern Piscataquis

When
January 30, 2:00 PM EST to January 31, 6:00 AM EST
Where
Northern Piscataquis forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
45.837, -69.284 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Southeast Aroostook

When
January 30, 2:00 PM EST to January 31, 6:00 AM EST
Where
Southeast Aroostook forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.659, -68.599 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Southern Piscataquis

When
January 30, 2:00 PM EST to January 31, 6:00 AM EST
Where
Southern Piscataquis forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
45.837, -69.284 (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

More

Every storm in Maine in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Maine, January 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: 5229676, 5229677, 5229678, 5229679.