CARIBOU, Maine — Aroostook County residents spent Thursday digging out from another snowstorm that hit the area on Wednesday afternoon and continued into Thursday morning.
The storm totals lined up with predictions, according to Victor Nouhan, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Caribou.
Those totals varied widely across The County, according to Nouhan, with as little as 5 inches of snow falling in northeastern Aroostook and up to a foot recorded west of Houlton.
“Most places received between 6 ½ to 8 ½ inches,” he said.
Abe Han, a student at Greater Houlton Christian Academy, leaps off a giant pile of snow Thursday during lunch break. The new fallen snow in Houlton made for excellent mountains to climb and jump off. (Joseph Cyr)
According to the NWS, Blaine received 10 inches of snow, while Grand Isle recorded 8.5 inches. In Amity, 8.2 inches fell, while Caribou saw 7 inches. In Houlton, 6 inches was on the ground, with 5.8 inches recorded in Presque Isle. Perham picked up 4 inches.
At this point, Aroostook County has received a bit more snow this year than it had at this point last year.
“At this time last year, we had 83.6 inches on the ground,” he said. “We currently have 94.8.”
Jessica Florence of Houlton said she was happy that the storm was over quickly, so that none of her children’s activities on Thursday night would be cancelled. She was frustrated, however, at how quickly everything was cancelled on Wednesday before “even a flake had fallen from the sky.
“I looked on the news websites yesterday and some schools had already announced that they had cancelled classes, and other organizations and agencies had planned to do the same,” she said. “It just irritates you a little bit at times, because I grew up in this area. When I went to school, schools here in the 1980’s and 90’s, superintendents used to wait until the early morning on the day of the storm before deciding when to cancel classes. It just seems like sometimes, they cancel school, the storm lets up an hour later, and the kids could have been in classes sometimes two hours later.”
-
- Doing his best to slide down a small hill during recess Thursday at Greater Houlton Christian Academy is Iver Hall. (Joseph Cyr)
-
- Wyatt Quint makes a snow angel during recess Thursday at Greater Houlton Christian Academy. (Joseph Cyr)
-
- Isaac Watson enjoys playing in the new-fallen snow Thursday during a recess break at Greater Houlton Christian Academy. (Joseph Cyr)
-
- April Mazur, a student at Greater Houlton Christian Academy, splashes into a pile of new snow Thursday during a recess at the school. (Joseph Cyr)
