Low pressure crossed the region during the 1st. Snow developed through the early morning hours of the 1st then persisted through early afternoon.
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.
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.
The episode as NWS CAR wrote it up.
Low pressure crossed the region during the 1st. Snow developed through the early morning hours of the 1st then persisted through early afternoon. Snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour occurred through the morning. Warning criteria snow accumulations also occurred through the morning. Storm total snow accumulations generally ranged from 6 to 10 inches...with local totals up to around 12 inches across northwest Aroostook county. Gusty winds produced areas of blowing snow across northern areas during the afternoon. South of the track...across Downeast areas...precipitation transitioned to a wintry mix and rain. Winds gusted to 40 to 50 mph along the Downeast coast.
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 1, 1:20 AM EST, 40 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Caribou ME
120 AM EST Tue Jan 1 2019
.SYNOPSIS...
Low pressure will approach overnight and cross the region on
Tuesday. The low will continue east into the Maritimes Tuesday
night. High pressure will return on Wednesday.
&&
.NEAR TERM /THROUGH SUNDAY/...
1:15 am Update: Hrly temps/dewpoints needed adjustment to match
the current conditions. Radar showed enhanced reflectivity
moving through the Bangor region and Downeast and lifting ne
into Millinocket. Precip started out as rain in both Bangor and
Bar Harbor, but quickly changed over to snow w/evaporative
cooling. Snow in Millinocket and Greenville. Current forecast
appears to be on track w/precip filling in across northern areas
within the next hr or two. Precip across the north and west will
be in the form of snow. Precip will become heavy w/strong llvl
jet lifting across the region overnight. South of Bangor, snow
will change to rain after a few inches of snow w/warmer air
lifting northward. Bangor and the Orono/Old Town area will hang
onto to snow a while longer before mixing w/sleet and changing
over rain around 7-8 AM. Expecting 2-4 inches before the
changeover. Could see a ribbon of sleet or perhaps some light
freezing rain from Houlton-Millinocket down to Greenville and
Dover-Foxcroft. Not expecting much icing as soundings indicate
this potential to be short lived.
Kept the winter headlines as is attm. Some concern for strong
winds along the coast w/the strong llvl jet of 50+ kts moving in
from the sse. Will monitor things if additional headlines are
needed for the coast.
Previous discussion:
Low pressure will then move eastward across central Maine during
New Years Morning, then across New Brunswick and Nova Scotia
late Tuesday Afternoon and Evening. The low will produce all
snow across the North while the snow is expected to change to
rain and mixed precipitation across the Penobscot and bangor
Region and Downeast Maine. Gusty southeast winds are expected
ahead of the approaching storm tonight into Tuesday Afternoon.
The winds will then shift into the northwest later Tuesday Night
bringing colder air back across the region.
&&
.SHORT TERM /SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY/...
Sfc low wl be exiting into Labrador Tue night with nw flow
contg acrs the area. Pressure gradient rmns tight drg the ovrngt
with winds ocnly gusting upwards of 20kts thru the bulk of the
nighttime hrs. Strong cold air advection wl lead to H9 temps
dropping 10F btwn 00z and 12z Wed. This results in mins dropping
into the negative numbers, especially ovr the North Woods where
skies wl be clearing twd dawn. Nern zones wl lkly see temps
only dipping to nr 0F with stratus hanging on fm the St.
Lawrence and possibly resulting in flurries drg the evng.
Sfc high pressure wl be building offshore on Wed with ridge axis ovr
CWA Wed night. Temps wl dip blo zero acrs the north under calm winds
and moclr skies with mins ovr Downeast into the single digits.
&&
.LONG TERM /THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY/...
Quick upr lvl trof appears to swing thru on Fri with lochc pops
ovr Downeast and hichc pops acrs the north closest to frcg.
What appeared to show as a coastal for Friday from all med range
guidance a few runs ago is now showing possible phasing Sat
night into Sun. Latest 12z runs are now slowing up the
progression of the H5 low thru the srn Plains thru mid-week and
is allowing for possible phasing late in the weekend with nrn
stream dropping into Ontario/Quebec at the same time. Hv
adjusted pops up along the coast for Sat night to 40 pops to
accnt for newest trend in models. Other than that hv gone with
Superblend for the long term.
&&
.AVIATION /06Z TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/...
NEAR TERM: Expect VFR conditions this evening then LIFR
conditions later tonight and Tuesday morning. Conditions should
improve to VFR in the afternoon at the Down East terminals, and
to MVFR from KHUL north to KFVE. Wind shear was added with the
00Z Tafs for the Down East terminals for very late tonight into
Tuesday morning.
SHORT TERM: MVFR at northern terminals Tue night with low
stratus and light snow, along with blowing snow possible before
becoming VFR around daybreak Wed mrng. VFR expected at BGR and
BHB through the end of the week. May see restrictions move in
Sat afternoon as next storm approaches from the southwest.
&&
.MARINE...
NEAR TERM: Will use the Nam to initialize winds. For Waves: A
significant southerly fetch will develop from the Gulf of Maine
southward Tonight into Tuesday then is expected to be broken up
by a wind shift into the west later Tuesday Morning. Southerly
wind wave is expected to build to around 14 feet/9-10 seconds by
day-break Tuesday. This wave system will slowly subside later in
the day Tuesday as an off-shore wind wave develops. Total Water
Level: Storm surge guidance suggests a surge just over 1 foot
however is may be slightly under done so will adjust this with
a +0.5 anomaly. As winds go off-shore Tuesday Night guidance
indicates a negative surge of -1.2 feet. This appears to be to
low so will adjust this with a +0.7 foot positive anomaly. In
Bangor ice build up continues creating significant positive
anomaly at low tide so will keep the base tide anomaly at 2 feet
next several days.
SHORT TERM: Gales diminish to SCA levels Tue night and aob
advisory levels Wed aftn as high pressure builds in. Seas will
also drop blo 5ft Wed aftn rmng blo SCA levels through the end
of the week.
&&
.CAR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
ME...Winter Storm Warning until 1 PM EST this afternoon for
MEZ001>006-010.
Winter Weather Advisory until 1 PM EST this afternoon for
MEZ011-015-031-032.
MARINE...Gale Warning until 9 PM EST this evening for ANZ050>052.
&&
Near Term...Hewitt<!doctype html>
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</html>The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Storm total snow accumulations ranged from 8 to 12 inches.
Storm total snow accumulations ranged from 7 to 10 inches.
Storm total snow accumulations ranged from 6 to 8 inches.
Storm total snow accumulations ranged from 7 to 10 inches.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Maine in 2019Every state in 2019This day in weather historyWarnings in Maine, January 2019
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: 802609, 802611, 802612, 802616.