Heavy Snow in Maine, May 12, 2002

Name: Heavy Snow in Maine, May 12, 2002
Start: 2002-05-12T14:00
End: 2002-05-12T23:00
Location: Maine

May 12, 2002 · NWS GYX · 6 events in 6 counties and zones

A late season winter-like storm moving through southern New England brought snow to the higher elevations of western Maine. Snowfall amounts ranged from 1 to 5 inches in the higher terrain of Cumberland, Oxford, Androscoggin, and Franklin Counties.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 6 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: 6

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.

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 May 12, 1:16 PM EST, 44 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 12, 1:16 PM EST, 44 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAY ME
216 PM EDT SUN MAY 12 2002

COMPLEX FCST SITUATION SETTING UP FOR MON NGT AND TUE...WHICH WL BE
VERY REMINISCENT OF WINTER.

FIRST THINGS 1ST.  AWIPS RADAR COMPOSITE SHOWS -RA MORE OR LESS
FOLLOWING PRVS FCST.  LATEST RUC SUGGESTS THAT AS THE 80A PASS S OF
THE FA...THE PCPN FIELD MAY NUDGE A BIT FURTHER N.  DWPTS ARE STILL
FAIRLY LO...SO NOT SURE THIS WL ACTUALLY OCCUR.  WL FOLLOW THE
PROGRESS OF THE PCPN...AND ADJUST THE 1ST PART OF THE 1ST PERIOD
JUST BEFORE RELEASE.

OTHERWISE...MODELS IN FAIRLY GUD AGREEMENT IN THE SHORT TERM.  THE
80A BAROCLINIC ZNS SETTLES SWD DURG THE NGT...AND WL FOLLOW THIS
TREND AFT THE AFOREMENTIONED NWD NUDGE WITH THE PASSAGE OF THE 80A
LOW.

WITH THE SFC HI TO THE N...WUD EXPECT TO SEE DRIER AIR NUDGING INTO
THE NERN...AND EVEN ERN ZNS LATER TNGT.  THIS SHUD SCOUR THE LOWER
LEVEL MOST...AND LEAVE A HIER DECK ABV.  SHUD IT CLR BEFORE
MRNG...TEMPS CUD PLUMMENT WITH VERY DRY AIR IN PLACE.  FOR NOW...WL
FOLLOW SLIGHTLY WARMER AVN/ETA MOS...THINKING A COMPLETE CLEARING IS
UNLIKELY.

FURTHER S...WL END THE RAIN FROM N TO S...AND WITH THE CONT ONSHORE
FLO...WL LEANE TWD THE HIER SIDE OF MOS GUIDANCE FOR MINS.

FOR MON...WL START THE ERN ZNS WITH AT LEAST SUM SUN...SINCE THE
LOWER MOIST IS GONE...AND THE MID/HI LEVEL MOIST WL BE THICKENING.
ELSEWHERE...ESP SRN NH AND THE CST...THE LOWER LEVELS WL BE MOST
ENUF TO AFFORD LTL IN THE WAY OF SUN.  AVN APPEARS TO BE A TAD FAST
RETURNING THE MOIST TO SRN NH ZNS...BUT WL REINTRODUCE POPS FOR SRN
AND WRN ZNS DURG THE AFTN.  ERN ZNS WL SEE THE HIEST TEMPS WITH SUM
EARLY SUN...AND SRN NH AND SWRN ME SHUD SEE TEMPS NOT MUCH HIER THAN
4 OR 5 DEGREES HIER THAN THE SST.

FOR MON NGT...WL LEAN TWD THE MORE AGRESSIVE AVN...WHICH HAS BEEN
MORE CONSISTENT WITH THE NEXT SYS FROM THE START (AND THIS IS ALSO
SUPPORTED BY THE GEM).  THE KEY HERE IS GOING TO BE COLUMN TEMPS.
BLV THAT THE ETA SFC TEMPS ARE TOO COLD (THANKS DAN IN BTV)...BUT
THAT FREEZING LEVELS DROP TO 1 KFT WITH THE CRASHING HGTS AND INCRG
SFC DEVELOPMENT.  MOST OF THE HIER TRRN STARTS AS RA...BUT GOES TO
SN AFT MIDN WITH AFOREMENTIONED COOLING.  ELSEWHERE...RA WL
OVERSPREAD THE FA FM SW TO NE.

SINCE THIS 1ST IMPLUSE WL NO BRING MUCH IN THE WAY OF RA TO THE
SRNMOST PART OF THE FA...WUD EXPECT THAT THE NEXT SLUG OF MOIST SHUD
BE HANDLED FAIRLY WELL.  WITH THE INFLO AVBL TO THE SYS...WUD EXPECT
THAT SUM OF THE UPSLOPE AREAS OF CNTRL NH AND SWRN ME MAY BE ABLE TO
GET UPWARDS OF 1.50 INCHES OF LIQUID.  THIS IS BLO NUMBERS FOR
FLOODING...AND WL HOLD OFF ON ANY HYDRO ACTIONS FOR NOW.

CUD BE THAT THE DRY SLOT WITH THE NEXT SYS  MAY REACH THE SRNMOST
PART OF THE FA AROUND SUNRISE TUE...BUT WL LEAVE OUT FOR NOW.  TEMPS
MON NGT WL BE FAIRLY UNIFORM OUTSIDE OF ELEVATIONS.

FOR TUE...WL TRY TO TAPER THE PCPN TO SCT -SHRA CLOSER TO THE
DRYING...BUT LEAVE THE PCPN IN FOR THE MTNS AND FOOTHILLS.  AFT
TALKING WITH NCEP (THANKS)...HAVE DECIDED TO HOIST A WINTER STORM
WATCH FOR NHZ001-002 AND MEZ007>009.  WHILE THIS WL BE A DECIDED
ELEVATION EVENT...BLV THE UPSLOPE ON THE FNT SIDE OF THE SYS AND
WRAPAROUND ON THE BACK SUHD BE SUFFICENT TO PRODUCE CLOSE TO AN INCH
OF PCPN EVEN THIS FAR N.  WL NOT MENTION SPECIFIC ACCUMS YET...BUT
MORE THAN 50 PERCENT CONFIDENCE THAT SOME OF THE HIER TRRN WL SEE
WARNING CRITERIA.

WITH THE STG NELY/NLY FLO TUE...WL LEAN COLDER THAN THE NGM/AVN...
AND KEEP ALL ZNS IN THE 40S.

WL TAPER THE PCPN TO SCT -SHRA EVERYWHERE TUE NGT...AND KEEP AS MUCH
OF THE FA DRY AS PSBL WED.

MARINE...ALTHO SEAS ARE RELATIVELY CALM AT THS TIME...SEAS TO SLOLY
CLIMB OVERNIGHT.  XPCT 3 TO 5 FOOTERS BY MRNG.  THEREFORE...WL RAISE
A SCA FOR SEAS.  WNDS SHUD BE JUST BLO SML CRFT CRITERIA.

SIGNIF GRDNT MONDAY NGT AHD OF DVLPG CSTL LO.  WNDS WL JUMP TO GALES
EASILY...& WE MAY HV A FEW GUSTS TO STM FORCE AS LO LVL WNDS INCR TO
AOA 50 KTS.  WM FNT MAY BE FORCED TO THE NRSHORE WATERS ALLOWING FOR
GUD MIXING CAPABILITY.  FOR NOW...WL HEADLINE W/ GALE WRNGS MAY BE
NEEDED MONDAY NGT.

HIGH TIDES RUNNING ABT 10 FT DURG THS PD...WHICH SHUD LV OUR FA W/
ONLY MINOR BEACH EROSION PBLMS.

.GYX...WINTER STORM WATCH FOR MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY
       MEZ007>009-NHZ001-002.
       SCA ME/NH CSTLN.

HAYES

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Androscoggin

When: May 12, 2:00 PM EST to 11:00 PM EST
Where: Androscoggin forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.166, -70.206 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Interior Cumberland

When: May 12, 2:00 PM EST to 11:00 PM EST
Where: Interior Cumberland forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 43.806, -70.330 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Northern Franklin

When: May 12, 2:00 PM EST to 11:00 PM EST
Where: Northern Franklin forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.974, -70.444 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Northern Oxford

When: May 12, 2:00 PM EST to 11:00 PM EST
Where: Northern Oxford forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.500, -70.757 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Southern Franklin

When: May 12, 2:00 PM EST to 11:00 PM EST
Where: Southern Franklin forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 44.974, -70.444 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Southern Oxford

When: May 12, 2:00 PM EST to 11:00 PM EST
Where: Southern Oxford forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
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

Every storm in Maine in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Maine, May 2002

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: 5298477, 5298478, 5298479, 5298480, 5298481, 5298482.