We sure have built up quite a snowpack in The County this year. At this writing, Caribou has received double the snow that fell through the same period last year. Also, unlike last year, the snow we have received has stayed.
This snow season, through January 4th, 68.6 inches (five feet, 8.6 inches) of snow has fallen at Caribou. Last year through January 4th, Caribou’s total was 33.9 inches.
Now the title of this column asks, was December 2016 the snowiest December on record? The answer: It’s not even close. While, December 2016 ended with an impressive total of 41.2 inches (the average December snowfall is 22.9 inches), that 41.2 inches did not even make the top five. The highest December monthly snow total on record (records go back to 1939) at Caribou was 59.9 inches, back in December of 1972. Second place goes to December of 2007 with 54.5 inches. That occurred during Caribou’s record-breaking winter, when many communities received over 200 inches of snow. Caribou saw 197.8 inches.
Because much of the snow that has fallen this season has continued to accumulate, with no intervening thaws, there are significant roof weight loads. Unfortunately, last week, the Fort Fairfield bandstand succumbed to this, collapsing due to the weight of the snow.
Snow depths around Aroostook are quite impressive. I received a photo confirming 30 inches (on the ground) in Madawaska on January 4th. But we’d have to get a whole lot deeper to challenge Caribou’s record for total snow depth. Just shy of 60 inches in February of 1977. That’s right, five feet of snow on the ground. Amazing.
Regarding last week’s winter storm, there was a lot of sleet for about the southeastern two-thirds of The County. Sleet is BB-sized pellets of ice. That sleet was caused by an above-freezing layer of air aloft, with below freezing temps at the surface. The snow coming from the clouds, melted upon hitting that above-freezing layer, then re-froze into ice pellets when falling through the below-freezing layer in contact with the ground.
Freezing rain occurs through the same process, but with one key difference. The layer of below freezing air in contact with the ground is not sufficiently deep for there to be time for the melted snowflake to re-freeze into an ice pellet. In this case the rain hits the ground and freezes into a glaze of ice.
I’ve always thought a better name for freezing rain would, in fact, be “glaze,” since that is what you get, and I have found that some people get sleet and freezing rain mixed up. I think that would happen less if we could start saying “glaze” instead of “freezing rain.” Less confusing, I think.
By the way, there is a type of warning called an ice storm warning, but plenty of folks don’t realize that this is a warning for dangerously thick ice glazing, caused by — freezing rain. Ice storms can cause major damage to the electrical grid. If you have never heard of the ice storm of 1998, Google it. Those who went through it remember it like it was yesterday.
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.
