Snow has quickly overspread southern Maine this morning and will continue throughout the day. The heaviest snow will occur between now and early afternoon, but snow will still fall through the evening commute. 

Hundreds of flights have been cancelled, so please call your airline before venturing out today.  It’s going to take a couple of days for the system to catch up as cancellations are widespread from Portland to Boston and south to New York.

• Between now and noon, look for one inch of snow per hour to fall across southern Maine.  4-8 inches total.

• After noon, snow will continue to accumulate at various intensities with another 4-6 inches of snow.

• Once we get beyond 5PM, I expect some lingering light snow to continue through between 10PM and 1AM.  There could be an additional coating to 2 inches of snow during this time.

 

Type of snow

Temperatures are cold enough so the snow will remain light. I am not expecting any sleet or freezing rain to mix into the storm.  I do recommend shoveling every few hours to avoid having to move a foot or more of snow at the end of the storm.

Power issues

Since the snow is so light and there will not be much wind, power outages are not a concern. Of course, there can always be an isolated outage or two.

Wind

There won’t be much in the way of wind with this system.  Winds will come from the north and northeast at 10-20 miles per hour at the coast, certainly nothing even close to those storms which bring strong winds.

Commutes and Cancellations

Many schools and some businesses are closed for today.  This evening conditions will slowly improve so some event will likely not be cancelled.  Of course check with your school, business etc. to see if they are still open.

Coastal issues

There are not major coastal issues with this storm.  During the time of high tide around 3PM today, some waves could splash over a few sea walls, but that would be the extent of any concerns from this storm.

Changes to snow amounts

I am confident in the snow totals from this storm. If the heavy snow moves a bit further north of the Capitol District, the amounts forecast for the mountains could be on the low side. I would love to hear from you and what you are seeing as well.  You can tweet me an update @growingwisdom.

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Extended forecast

The weather turns calmer for a few days Thursday through Saturday with a blend of clouds and sunshine and highs in the 20s and nights in the single numbers to lower teens.  It will be nice to get outside and enjoy the new snow.  The sun is stronger and brighter this time of year, so you may want to think about using sunscreen if you are skiing or boarding this week.

 

The next storm threat is Sunday afternoon through Monday.  There will be a big storm developing.  However, the amount of snow could be near zero if the storm stays hundreds of miles off the coast or a much more significant storm if the track takes the system closer to the region.  It’s still several days away and impossible to know at this stage. 

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