Maine, 2010

Heavy Snow and High Wind in Maine, March 23 to 24, 2010

March 23 to 24, 2010 · NWS CAR · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

Low pressure tracking across the Gulf of Maine brought heavy snow to northwestern Maine through the 23rd into the morning of the 24th. Storm total snow accumulations ranged from 5 to 9 inches.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

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 across the Gulf of Maine brought heavy snow to northwestern Maine through the 23rd into the morning of the 24th. Storm total snow accumulations ranged from 5 to 9 inches. The snow did mix with sleet and freezing rain at times.|A strong low level jet in advance of the low produced high winds across coastal Washington county from the late evening hours of the 23rd into the early morning hours of the 24th.

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 Mar 23, 2:29 AM EST, 4 hours 31 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 23, 2:29 AM EST, 4 hours 31 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 23, 2:45 AM EST, 4 hours 15 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 heavy snow, 1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Northwest Aroostook

When
March 23, 7:00 AM EST to March 24, 9:00 AM EST
Where
Northwest Aroostook forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
46.659, -68.599 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Storm total snow accumulation ranged from 5 to 9 inches.

Heavy Snow, Northern Somerset

When
March 23, 7:00 AM EST to March 24, 9:00 AM EST
Where
Northern Somerset forecast zone
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
45.514, -69.959 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Storm total snow accumulation ranged from 5 to 9 inches.

Heavy Snow, Northern Piscataquis

When
March 23, 7:00 AM EST to March 24, 9:00 AM EST
Where
Northern Piscataquis forecast zone
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
45.837, -69.284 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Storm total snow accumulation ranged from 5 to 9 inches.

High Wind, Coastal Washington

When
March 23, 8:50 PM EST to March 24, 1:00 AM EST
Where
Coastal Washington forecast zone
Measured
35 kt (40 mph) measured sustained
Reported by
Mesonet
Coordinates
44.970, -67.609 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Measured sustained winds of around 40 mph occurred at West Quoddy for around an hour and a half.

What these are

Heavy Snow
Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.
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 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Maine, March 2010

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 218831, 218832, 218833, 218830.