The good news is the freezing rain is finally over.  The two to three day event brought down power lines and trees, mostly centered on a line from Lewiston to the coast.  The report below shows how much ice built up on various surfaces around the area with the heaviest close to an inch.

This wasn’t 1998 all over again, but some areas did see ice accretion almost to those levels.  Back in 1998, the ice was more widespread and the power outages over two and half times what they have been with this storm.

While ski areas didn’t get a dumping of snow, they also didn’t lose snow cover from the event. While mild air removed the snow across southern New England, skiing is in good shape heading into the Christmas holiday.

Water is not light and if you think about how heavy a few gallons of water is, imagine all that water hanging from power lines and tree branches.  Eventually the weight is going to be too much and down they come.

I’ll be updating the forecast on Twitter @growingwisdom throughout the week. Please follow me there.

You  will finally get to see some sunshine today, although clouds will never fully break, so I’ll call it a blend of clouds and sunshine.   I am not expecting any precipitation today, with roads staying or turning dry.   Winds will be somewhat brisk around midday as colder air continues to work into the region.   

If you are hoping for some melting, it’s not in the cards.  The only day of the next 5 I see temperatures getting above freezing is Sunday when much of southern Maine will reach the mid 30s.  This will give a chance for much of the ice melt if it hasn’t already fallen by then.

Be careful walking around the next few days.  Gusts of wind can cause ice to fall and tree branches to give way.  

Even colder air moves in for Christmas and you will definitely need to wear the heavier coats tomorrow. The surge of  bitter arctic air just clips the region, so the  deep cold won’t last very long.

Highs tomorrow will only be in the teens to near 20 and when there is a burst of wind, it will of course feel colder.

We return to more typical cold for Thursday when  weak system from the west will being a few snow showers.  Temperatures will be around freezing and I am not expecting anything more than a dusting of snow with this system.

Friday and the weekend look dry and seasonable.  A brief warm-up will occur Sunday when many towns will push into the  35 degree range or a few degrees higher. 

The storm that created all the icing is pushing out to see this morning as a cold front moves into the area later today and overnight.  Arctic air will surge southward and provide one very cold day for Christmas.  The deep cold departs for Thursday leaving us with seasonable temperatures into the weekend.

I don’t see any major snowstorms in sight and it appears we will end December will end with below normal temperatures and above average snowfall.

I’ll be updating the forecast on Twitter @growingwisdom please follow me there.

 

Indoor flowers: Growing Amaryllis

You might be giving or getting one of these beauties this time of the year. Check out how to care for them in this video.

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