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1/2/10
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poll Mainers dig out from whopper storm
Heavy, long-lasting precipitation dumps at least a foot of snow on much of the state, makes driving treacherous
A powerful three-day winter storm that walloped much of the state this weekend dumped more than a foot of snow in most places, canceled plans, contributed to accidents and caused minor coastal flooding before drifting out of the area Sunday evening.
Meteorologists with the National Weather Service office in Caribou said Sunday afternoon that areas of Hancock and Washington counties were the “jackpot areas” in terms of snowfall amounts, with several towns receiving 18 inches of snow by the time the storm ended.
Meteorologist Tony Mignone at the weather service in Caribou said Eastbrook in Hancock County picked up 18 inches of snow, and Bucksport got 16 inches, as did Sedgwick.
“Washington County also got the most snowfall out of this event,” he said Sunday afternoon. “Cutler received 18 inches of snow, and other towns received 16 inches.”
Topsfield, also in Washington County, picked up 12 inches, and Jonesboro saw 8 inches.
No serious flooding or other weather-related incidents were reported Sunday by Hancock or Washington County officials.
In Penobscot County, East Millinocket also was hit with 18 inches of snow, while 7 inches accumulated in Millinocket. Fourteen inches fell in LaGrange, and Bangor saw close to 13 inches.
Aroostook County was not as hard hit by the storm, missing most of the action Friday. Snow did not start falling until Saturday afternoon in most places. That resulted in lower snowfall amounts, with some parts of the St. John Valley receiving only 4 inches of fresh powder.
The most snow in The County fell in Island Falls, where 11 inches was recorded. Houlton picked up 10 inches, and 9 inches was recorded at the weather service office in Caribou.
“The farther north you went, the lower the snowfall amounts,” said Mignone. “Fort Kent, which normally sees a lot of snow during storms, only received 4 inches.”
Mignone said many County residents saw the snow lighten and turn to drizzle as the storm weakened. An intense low pressure system to the south and east of the region brought warmer maritime air across New Brunswick and into The County.
“After that, temperatures stabilized in the mid-30s,” he said Sunday. “Rain mixed in with the snow and that really reduced the blowing and drifting in the region.” Public works crews were out in force throughout the duration of the storm to plow and treat roadways.
The Bangor Public Works Department banned parking in Kenduskeag Plaza over the weekend due to higher than normal tides. The Kenduskeag Stream stayed within its concrete banks Saturday and Sunday and did not overflow as it did in November.
Ryan Moody, a dispatcher with the Public Works Department, said that on Sunday night workers would be clearing sidewalks and removing high snowbanks from the city’s downtown and other heavily traveled areas. Crews also would be checking to make sure stormwater basins were cleared of snow since temperatures are predicted to be at or above freezing much of this week.
Bangor police and a dispatcher for the Maine State Police in Orono said things were quieter Sunday after a busy Saturday when police assisted numerous motorists who skidded off roadways or into snowbanks.
Bangor Hydro-Electric Co. reported about 2 p.m. Sunday that they were handling 782 reported outages due to heavy snowfall. By 5 p.m., power had been restored to all but a few homes in Bradford, Dennysville, Holden and Orono, according to information on the company’s Web site.
Central Maine Power Co. crews late Sunday afternoon were working to restore power in Arundel, Buxton, Greene, Lewiston and York, according to information on the utility’s Web site.
Outages did not appear to be widespread. In the midcoast region, police and dispatchers reported a number of minor accidents Saturday and early Sunday, but no major incidents. In central Maine, a man in China apparently was injured when he was struck by a snowplow in a driveway. The Maine Warden Service and roughly 30 volunteers also were searching the China Lakes region Sunday for an 18-year-old snowmobiler missing since late Friday.
Midcoast towns also escaped the flooding that affected some southern coastal areas. In Lincolnville, the storm combined with the astronomical high tide Saturday to bring waters up to the base of the bridge near Lincolnville Beach, with only minor overflow onto the road. The tide also submerged most of the upper part of the public boat ramp in downtown Belfast and flooded a lower section of the waterfront parking lot. Rockland police reported no flooding problems Sunday afternoon.
The Bangor Public Works Department closed parking areas along the Kenduskeag Stream due to the unusually high tides predicted, John Russell, a foreman with the department, said Saturday afternoon.
High tide came and went about 11:30 a.m. Saturday in downtown Bangor and the stream stayed within its concrete banks, he said.
The astronomical high tides caused some flooding Saturday. At Seawall in Southwest Harbor, waves broke over the road and deposited rocks on the roadway. The high tides also caused brief flooding on Court Street in Machias.
There were few reasons to be out on the roads, as most events, including concerts, plays, community suppers and sporting events, were canceled.
In Bangor on Saturday, two people escaped injury after the vehicle in which they were riding flipped over and landed on its roof just off Interstate 95.
State police Trooper Darren Vittum said that Brian Bowdin, 65, of Hermon, lost control of his 2003 Ford Ranger pickup truck about 1:20 p.m. Saturday while traveling north on I-95, about a mile north of Hogan Road. The vehicle rolled over onto its roof before stopping.
Bowdin and his wife, Elizabeth Bowdin, 63, were uninjured. The trooper said Bowdin was traveling too fast for the road conditions.
The accident was one of 34 state police had handled on I-95 between Newport and Argyle by 3:30 p.m. Saturday due to the storm and drivers traveling too fast for the icy road conditions, Vittum said.
In Clifton, Nancy Owens, 38, of Baileyville, suffered a head injury when she lost control of her car on Route 9 early Saturday afternoon. Owens crossed the centerline and struck a guardrail. A car driven by David Johnson, 67, of Calais, then struck Owens’ car. Johnson suffered minor injuries, according to Trooper Chris Hashey.
In other counties, a few minor accidents were reported Saturday, none of which resulted in serious injury.
The weather service in Caribou reported that the highest wind gust was measured in Aroostook County, when a blast of wind peaked at 54 mph in Frenchville just after 1 a.m. Sunday. In Houlton, a wind gust of 47 mph was recorded, and whipping 43-mph wind gusts were measured in Caribou and Presque Isle early Sunday.
In Hancock County, the highest wind gust occurred in Bass Harbor, where a 39-mph gust was recorded. In Greenville in Piscataquis County, a 43-mph gust whipped through the area.
Caribou police Sgt. Ron Curtis said Sunday afternoon that police were “fortunate” and did not deal with any accidents in that area Saturday night or Sunday.
“Last night, the snow turned to rain and packed down the snow we had pretty well,” he said. “It was not that bad.”
Other Aroostook County police departments reported sporadic accidents, none of which was serious.
“We had a few cars go off the road, but they got back on pretty quickly,” Presque Isle police Sgt. Laurie Kelly said Sunday afternoon. “That was it.”
The storm was expected to leave the Northeast today, with a few lingering snow showers in the mountains throughout most of the week, and seasonable temperatures.
BDN writers Jen Lynds in Houlton, Kevin Miller in Belfast, Rich Hewitt in Ellsworth and Judy Harrison in Bangor, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Hey it's Ralphy. How's everybodys favorite Lib?
Well we do live in Maine, we do expect to get snow. Lol
I love the snow!! It is January in Maine after all!! What do people expect, sunny and 70??
Wonder how fast those whirlygigs are turning on Stetson Mountain, if they ain't blowed over already.
Al Gore should help me clean all this global warming off my drive way.
Ha, Ha, Ha. my neighbors cat can forecast the weather better than the caribou weather bureau. where is all this wind and snow were suppose to be digging out from. I haven't seen anything major about this yet. To think they actually get paid for doing this.
18 inches or more here on the coast, winds were up, but not 45 miles an hour, so we,ll all dig out, and life goes on. ya know all the kiddies will be loving this!!
I don't miss it at all. It makes me cold just to look at it.
I used to deliver this paper, when it was a hard copy, in this weatheh and now you can load up on you fancy comutahs and look at it. And post your comments as well. My oh my, how the more things change, plous say la maim choose. Weather has not changed, the BDN is now in the 21st century!
well bumpintheroad, I guess it's all where you live because we live in eastern maine and we got 2 feet!
Um, I admire all the bravado above me, but I have a buttload of snow in my dooryard! Let's be glad this happened on a long weekend and on a school vacation. The local merchants affected by this (restaurants, movies, stores) are looking at a poor start to their new year. You all are right though: Maine, January, snow...bring it on and pass the shovels!
We had a foot in East Millinocket by 11 pm. And the wind was so bad it won out over the smoke coming up the chimney from the coal stove. Shoving it back down into the basement yack!! Maybe bumpintheroad hasn't actually looked outside yet?
Good time for lovin'!
gobal warming......ha ha ha............
Just moved to Etna,ME with a love for it. We probrably got 15 inches here, All rain on Sunday :( makes the snow go away
Al Gore couldn't make it to Maine to view the climate change firsthand - he was too busy counting his money, eating pork rinds, and reading fan mail from moonbats.
Beelzebubba, I got an idea for economic development - a polar bear refuge. What do you think?
That's Sir Albert to you guys..
Stevey, are you sipping tonight?
This is the part that was exciting to me. The snow, heavy and wet, is just the thing to see if that new snowblower will come through for you folks now. But this is also the kind of weather the kids just love to see and stand-by the radio and television in the morning in hopes the school cancellations include their school district.
One of the things I liked best, is when weather of this kind comes, is to run up to Orono to my favorite pizza place (guess which one) and sit all afternoon swilling pizza and beer for three or four hours, watching a game on the TV set with many UM students. My kind of wintertime; but never skiing!
No Santini, I'm on a diet.........
Having shoveled out my yard in Millinocket today, I dispute the part of the article which claims that, while East Millinocket got 18 inches of snow, Millinocket somehow got only seven. I realize that the weather patterns over Dolby have gotten a bit erratic since La Casa closed, but really, gentlemen.
Yes there was some definite "global warming" going on in past times in the Dolby at the ole' La Casa Di Fiesta.....
How many days is this going to make front page news????? Now it has made a Poll Question, did you have to drive anywhere this weekend, Yes if you have a job!!!!!!! We live in Maine it snows here, WOW big news after all it IS January!!!! Are they lacking some better news to report, I do see they have added some NEW pictures though????
No snow in Baghdad! 70s and sunny!
I have to give props to one of my neighbors! We were out shoveling and snowblowing the driveway today, during which the town plows came by and threw a 5 1/2 foot wall of snow up at the end of the driveway and a neighbor (which never offered his name and wouldn't take money for his time, because we tried) was going by on his tractor with a snow blower attachment and he stopped of his own accord and cleaned up the town plowed snow at the end of our driveway and finished what we hadn't cleaned up yet. It is nice to know that people still do nice things for others out of the goodness of their heart! Thank you neighbor!!! I hope someday I can repay the kindness!!!!
InsideFever i agree fully with you, two thumbs way up. Beelzebubba, you forgot that he is also driving his hummer around, and flying to exotic locations in his private jet.
Dudes, chill out with the global warming ridicule - it's climate change, man, and it's going to get colder in some places before temperatures rise all over the globe. While it may be cold here, Australia is burning up and Antarctica and Greenland are melting. The science is settled so deal with it, man.
i left West Rockport 31 years ago, mid 80's here every day, i think i'll go diving this afternoon. now i know why i left.
Maybe we could sell snow to Australia?
well I would hope its burning up in Australia, its summer in the Southern Hemisphere this time of year.
Oh sure, another sarcastic remark, trekkie76. Australia is have the worst drought in recorded history and enormous chunks of Antarctica are breaking away and melting into the surrounding sea. Killer storms are more powerful and frequent than ever. Polar bears are drowning by the thousands because it's almost ice-free in the Arctic during recent summers. Malaria is moving north because of warming temperatures. And you and snarkybutthead joke about it. Well, you won't be laughing when the seas rise and most species go extinct. WE HAVE TO STOP EMITTING CO2 NOW!
18" of snow in Maine is a "whopper?" give me a break. and it took 3 days for it all to fall? this was a layup storm for maine. should not have caused any problems at all. way to over report BDN.
The global warming hype is a crock of s--t. The climate on earth has been changing since the beginning of time. The only difference now is that politicians, some pseudo-scientists & GE have found ways to get rich off the whole thing. This storm reminds me of the type we got when I was growing up in the 50's & 60's.
P.S. - If you want to decrease the amount of CO2 being admitted, stop breathing out!!!
Sorry for the stridency of my comments, janenj, but when the fate of the earth is in the balance, desperation is understandable. The IPCC has proven that the planet is warming with it's definitive General Circulation Models and the scientists at RealClimate have pretty much corroborated the IPCC's work with peer-reviewed work of unparalleled accuracy. We need to curb our addiction to hydrocarbons of all types and move immediately to wind and solar as our sources of energy. The technology is available to take us there within a couple of months but big oil and big coal pay our politicians while screwing the people (hard-working) of this country. If action is not taken very soon, we'll be at a tipping point which will cause the earth's climate to spiral out of control. Perhaps light rail in Maine would help but I think we have to do more than that. We also have to think about population control for the very reason you mentioned - every exhalation of a human being brings us incrementally closer to killing Mother Earth.
I can't believe there are actually people who don't believe in global warming!
It's 42 degrees in Albuquerque today, and it really feels pretty chilly. I was out yesterday puttering around in my t-shirt. But as always, I can't wait to get back in the spring. Between the Coffepot and the Casa going out of business, things just won't be the same at home.
Interesting to see how some of you folks manage to snipe and abuse each other over a weather story. Maybe the January thaw will make you a little nicer.
For the record, I believe in it, Emily. I just don't see the value of getting all excited about it. It's hardly as if making alterations to my individual lifestyle is going to make any difference whatsoever, and one gets tired of in-your-face environ-mentals racing around like Yorkshire terriers on a sugar buzz, yapping incessantly about Reducing Our Carbon Footprint. To hell with my miniscule, irrelevant Carbon Footprint. I'm not the one flying all over the world in a private jet to present PowerPoint slideshows, Mr. Gore.
Also, uh, Milo, "every exhalation of a human being brings us incrementally closer to killing Mother Earth"? That's exactly the kind of strident nonsense I'm talking about. People going around saying that kind of thing are one of the key reasons why the climate change lobby isn't taken seriously - because it's IMPOSSIBLE TO TAKE SERIOUSLY anyone who says anything as ridiculous as that. It just automatically sparks the "whoa, calm down, Captain Herbalife, put down the bong and back away from it slowly, you've clearly had enough therapy for today" reaction in even the moderate, much less the conservative, mind. I mean, seriously? If you want to take a view as long and abstract as that, every keystroke of an Internet posting brings us incrementally closer to the heat death of the Universe. Mathematically true; in practical terms, irrelevant.
Stop entropy now, man.
I don't see what the thermodynamics of the universe have to do with humans killing Gaia, man. And heat has nothing to do with it anyway - God created the universe and all he used was light, dude. I'm just saying that if we keep filling our skies with CO2, we're going to reach a point where the climate "tips" into chaos and we're going to kill most of what lives on Earth. Didn't you see "The Day After Tomorrow"? I know there was a hokey human interest subplot but the science was devastatingly accurate.
HEY Al Gore come up here and shovel out my global warming.
I agree with janenj ! What an over-hyped storm. The media is all over a regular old Maine snowstorm but there is no coverage of things like Baldacci's plan to obliterate rural Maine with thousands of ugly wind turbines in his misguided quest to save planet earth and enrich his buddies in the Big Wind industry. Ho-hum, we plow and shovel the snow out of the way, its a bit of an inconvenience and something to play in for people like me.
Now, don't be too harsh on Milocrabtree, as he is just preaching his religion of climate change, with it's religious icon of the wind turbine. He's hooked on the Big Lie like an opiate, poor Al Gore accolyte. Unfortunately the "Chicken Littles" of this religion want to: a)tell you how to live your life; b) hit up the taxpayers for tens of billions of dollars for energy subsidies; and c) hike your electricity rates sky-high and ruin the US economy. What a religion!
I blame Gov. Baldacci! blah, blah blah...
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