Aroostook County sure does see its fair share of weather (understatement of the year). From searing heat with suffocating humidity, to punishing cold and howling winds. Thunderstorms, tornadoes, blizzards, floods, ice jams, even the occasional hurricane. They all are in the repertoire of what M. Nature is capable of throwing our way.
Now out of all of these, I have found that what gets the most attention is wind, be it from severe thunderstorms, tornadoes or hurricanes.
However, statistically, your life will not be threatened by wind in The County as frequently as it will be by other phenomena. In fact, my list of things most likely to threaten your life in our area, does not even include wind!
So here is that list, and again, please remember that it is a list of potentially life-threatening weather events that you are most likely to encounter living in northern Maine.
1) Driving in white-out conditions
2) Hypothermia
3) Driving through floodwaters
4) Driving in dense fog
5) Driving during freezing rain (the ice glaze)
6) Lightning
It probably did not escape your attention that four of the six involve driving!
Don’t forget that I have created an excellent “clearing house” where we can all post road conditions, so that our fellow travelers can know what to expect. Simply go to facebook.com/tedsweather and post what is going on. Please always include time and location. Doing this allows anyone to go to that page to see if things are getting hazardous in a part of The County to which they might be heading. Thank you on behalf of all of our fellow travelers!
Finally, with regard to not including wind in my list, don’t get me wrong, strong winds can certainly be damaging, but in terms of the likelihood of strong winds killing you in The County, the six items listed above are, statistically, a greater threat.
Ted Shapiro holds the Broadcast Seal of Approval from both the American Meteorological Society and the National Weather Association. An Alexandria, Va. native, he has been chief meteorologist at WAGM-TV since 2006. Email him at tshapiro@wagmtv.com.
