Name: High Wind in Maine, May 14, 2002
Start: 2002-05-14T06:30
End: 2002-05-14T07:30
Location: Maine

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 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: 1

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.

Wind gusts to around 60 mph broke off several trees in the vicinity of Long Lake. Some of the trees landed on homes.

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 May 14, 5:50 AM EST, 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 14, 5:50 AM EST, 40 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CARIBOU ME
650 AM EDT TUE MAY 14 2002

.UPDATED...
WILL ISSUE A WIND ADVISORY BASED ON SPOTTER/RAINWISE REPORTS OF WINDS
GUSTING TO OVER 50 MPH OVER THE ISLANDS AND PORTIONS OF INTERIOR DOWNEAST.

.SYNOPSIS...
STRONG LOW PRESSURE ALONG THE NEW ENGLAND COAST WILL MOVE ACROSS MAINE LATE
TODAY AND TONIGHT. THIS STORM SYSTEM WILL CONTINUE INTO THE MARITIMES ON
WEDNESDAY. A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL CROSS THE AREA WEDNESDAY NIGHT...
THEN A WEAKER STORM SYSTEM WILL AFFECT THE REGION ON THURSDAY.

.DISCUSSION...
ALL SHORT RANGE MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT TAKING SURFACE LOW ALONG THE
NEW ENGLAND COAST SLOWLY NORTHWARD INTO MAINE UNDER DEVELOPING MID
TROPOSPHERIC CUTOFF TODAY AND TONIGHT. LATEST IR SATELLITE IMAGERY
INDICATING COLDER CLOUD TOPS MOVING ACROSS THE REGION SUPPORTING AREAS OF
LIGHT TO MODERATE PRECIPITATION MAINLY OVER CENTRAL AND DOWNEAST AREAS.
WITH DRY AIR STILL IN PLACE ACROSS THE NORTH (DEW POINTS IN THE LOWER TO MID
20S) ANY PRECIPITATION HAVING A HARD TIME REACHING THE SURFACE.

STRONG UPPER DYNAMICS IS FORECAST TO ENHANCE PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE REGION
EARLY THIS MORNING. AS THE LOW LEVELS BECOME SATURATED THE 1000-850 MB LAYER
WILL COOL QUICKLY BELOW ZERO DEG C ALLOWING FOR FROZEN PRECIP TO DEVELOP
ESPECIALLY OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN EARLY THIS MORNING. BASED ON LATEST QPF
FORECAST WILL HOLD ON TO CURRENT ADVISORY HEADLINES.

AS SURFACE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM BECOMES TRAPPED UNDER CUTOFF AND DRIFTS
THROUGH MAINE...THE LOW LEVEL COLD AIR WILL GRADUALLY ERODE RESULTING IN
RAIN SHOWERS ACROSS THE REGION EXCEPT OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN WHERE MIXED
RAIN/SNOW SHOWERS CAN BE EXPECTED TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY.

SURFACE/UPPER LOW DRIFT INTO THE MARITIMES DURING WEDNESDAY WITH SHORT
WAVE RIDGE BUILDING ACROSS THE REGION WEDNESDAY NIGHT. SHOWERS ESPECIALLY
ACROSS NORTHERN AREAS WILL END LATE IN THE DAY. LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL
REMAIN ABUNDANT THUS EXPECT MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES DESPITE WEAK RIDGING
WEDNESDAY NIGHT. NEXT SYSTEM QUICKLY APPROACHES WITH RAIN AGAIN ESPECIALLY
ACROSS THE NORTH FOR THURSDAY.

COASTAL WATERS...
WIND CURRENTLY WELL INTO GALE CATEGORY WITH SOME GUSTS REACHING TO STORM
FORCE ATTM. WILL HANDLE THESE HIGHER GUSTS INTO STORM CATEGORY WITH A MARINE
STATEMENT ATTM. WINDS SHOULD GRADUALLY DIMINISH AS STORM CIRCULATION
APPROACHES COAST LATER TODAY.

.CAR...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY ZONES 1/3/4/10 TODAY.
       WIND ADVISORY FOR ZONES 15>17/29/30 THIS MORNING.
       MARINE STORM WARNING.

FITZSIMMONS

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Northwest Aroostook

When: May 14, 6:30 AM EST to 7:30 AM EST
Where: Northwest Aroostook forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 46.659, -68.599 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

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: 5296318.