19 inches of snow is officially on the ground at the Jetport and that number is about to grow a bit. The snowbanks around the region continue to grow, streets are narrowing and parking in the various cities and towns around the region is proving to be a bit of a challenge. I’ve seen driveways that were big enough for two cars in mid-January quickly become half as wide.

This isn’t the deepest the snow has ever been, but since the snow fell in a relatively short period of time, much of it is still on the ground. It’s hard to remember, but the ground was actually bare in many areas just two weeks ago.

Winter in Maine brings cold and snow and while many people want it to just be over, many others think of the summer as just the break between their favorite season. Plow operators, ski resorts and winter sports enthusiasts are having a banner second half of winter. What seemed like a lost season just two weeks ago is turning into one of the best second parts of winter in years.

Ski areas are doing great and with less than a week until winter vacation for many schools, this should be a great time to be on the slopes. Sunday River reported 6 inches of new snow Sunday and I expect about that much more overnight.

The cold air means the type of snow is so light some call it arctic dust. As I update this it’s 10F in Portland with periods of very light. I’ll bet I could use a broom to sweep away the snow. The snow will ebb and flow during the day today at times almost stopping, but the accumulating again.

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Why More Snow?
This cold arctic air is pushing against some milder air to our south and helping to create more snow. The heaviest snow in these situations usually falls along the boundary where these two different temperature zones meet. Since the boundary is south of Maine, the heaviest snow will fall across southern York County and in southern New England.

I expect periods of snow to continue throughout the day today. The map above shows what will fall today, you can add about 1-3 inches to that if you want a total since the storm began. Any snow that falls will have very little water content because of the single digit temperatures.

More Cold and Snow
Once this storm passes dry and cold weather returns for later Tuesday and Wednesday before the next chance of, you guessed it, more snow returns for Thursday. After that system passes even colder air arrives for the upcoming weekend early next week.

I don’t see a break in the pattern on the long-range models. While I can’t tell you with much accuracy how many more storms we will see the rest of this winter season, there are many indications for the colder than average temperatures to continue through March. One bright note, the average temperatures themselves are becoming less cold, so if we are far below average, it won’t be quite as cold as can potentially be in January and the first half of February.