By Ted Shapiro
What a color show we had this fall, and did those colors ever come on fast! They came on a bit later this year, but when it finally happened it was electrifying! We are certainly very privileged to live in our little corner of Paradise, here in The County, where we get such a show every Autumn.
Of course, we’ll soon have dramatic changes to our landscape, as the trees shed their leaves, and there will be dramatic changes in our temperatures as well! By the end of October, the average high at Caribou is 45, but then, by the end of November, it is only 32.
And it snows In November. Caribou averages about 11 inches of snow during the month, but one year, 1974, it was the snowiest month of the entire winter! A huge snowstorm stranded many Thanksgiving travelers, and many folks reading this remember that quite well, I’m sure!
By the way, I started writing this column from my sister’s camp down in Waldo County, and they had a stream on their property, with not a drop of water in it! And even after it rained all day one of the days I was there, the next day the stream just had rocks that only looked damp. And now that I am back in The County, I see how very low the rivers are here as well. The weather was great for the harvest, but now Maine is in need of some replenishing rains before the ground freezes. Fortunately, I do believe our overall pattern will turn wetter heading into November. And with colder temps right around the corner, that wetter will eventually be whiter!
I’ll be coming out with my winter forecast before long on WAGM. Snow, of course, plays such a key role in our winter economy. One of the things I’ll be looking at is not just how much snow I am anticipating this season, but whether the snow will stay. Such was not the case last year, when, according to reports I received, the only consistently reliable snowpack for sledders was in northwestern portions of Aroostook County.
I’d like to close with a public service announcement of sorts, it’s a public service we’ll do for one another! This winter, let’s all be all in, sharing weather information in one place, with each person simply writing what they are seeing “out their front door,” when there is weather going on which could impede travel. The “one place” will continue to be my professional Facebook page. There, you can report, by simply writing on the wall of the page, what is happening where you live.
The address for my FB Page is facebook.com/tedsweather. Again, please make sure to write on the wall of the page, as opposed to sending a private message. When you write on the wall, then everyone can see what you are reporting.
I cannot overemphasize what an invaluable tool I’ve heard this is for travelers, as it gives them real-time reports of what is going on at a location to which they might be heading! Let me know if you have any questions about this. My email address is listed directly below the end of this column.
See you in November!
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.
