First storm of year dumped nearly a foot on parts of County

Laurence Shorette of Presque Isle operates his snowblower to clean neighbors’ driveways on Dyer Street on New Year’s Day. A storm dumped an estimated 6-8 of snow on the Star City in the early morning hours, but by around noontime residents were out and about. (Paula Brewer)

CARIBOU, Maine — Residents of Aroostook County woke up to a significant storm on New Year’s Day, with some parts of the area seeing double digit snowfall totals.

The fast moving storm was caused by a low pressure system that moved into the area from the west late on Monday night and tracked across Maine on Tuesday morning, according to Tony Mignone, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Caribou.

Limestone received 10 inches of snow from the storm, according to the NWS, while Madawaska picked up 9 inches. Caribou picked up 8.9 inches, while Houlton and Orient saw 5 inches. Four inches also fell in Van Buren.

Blowing and gusting winds also became an issue in some parts of The County after the storm.

A wind chill of 14 below zero was recorded at the Frenchville airport on Tuesday evening, with a reading of 12 below in Caribou. A reading of 9 below was picked up at Northern Maine Regional Airport in Presque Isle, followed by readings of 5 below in Littleton and Clayton Lake.