Muted November grays at this writing are awaiting their mantle of white. November is when we really make our transition into our cold season in The County. By month’s end, the average high temperature is right at the freezing mark, 32 degrees. Caribou averages 10.5 inches of snow in November. Now, prior to last winter’s below-normal snow season, we had had two well-above normal winters in a row, 2013-14 and 2014-15. Those winters had about 150 and 141 inches, respectively. The Caribou average is 108.7 inches. I bring this up because you might be wondering how important November totals are in setting the stage for an above-average snowfall season.
Well, looking at the two winters mentioned, the 150-inch year had less than 10 inches in November, with the heaviest single accumulation being 2.7 inches. So a November does not have to be big, for a season to be big!
Now as far as big snow Novembers go, the snowiest November in Caribou was back in 1974, when 34.9 inches fell, while the snowiest November in Bangor occurred in 2014, with the Queen City receiving 32.1 inches.
November is a big transition month across the northern tier of the United States, and some very powerful low pressure systems can develop. One of the most infamous ones was the screaming gale of November 10th, 1975, which sank the Edmund Fitzgerald on Lake Superior. Last Thursday was the 41st anniversary of the sinking, which claimed the lives of all 29 crew. Another vicious November storm of note was the Armistice Day Blizzard of 1940, which claimed 145 lives in the Midwest.
On to another topic, the sudden and shocking early sunsets, now that we’ve moved our clocks back. If you are wondering, Caribou’s earliest sunset of the year is 3:43 p.m.! Just thinking about it may make you long for those summer evenings with sunsets after 8 p.m.! But we do love our winters too, short daylight notwithstanding! Oh, a driving safety reminder, please clear all of the snow off of your car before starting out. Not just the windshield, but all surfaces. Example: some people don’t clean off their hoods and all of a sudden a huge “slab” of snow will fly up onto their windshield, and entirely block their view!
One more safety reminder: if you didn’t do it when you moved your clocks back, for your family’s safety, please put fresh batteries into your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors.
I’ll close with my winter forecast that I delivered on WAGM last week. First, the period I covered was November 1 – April 30. Last year snowfall was below normal, for the season at Caribou, it was a shade under 95 inches. Winter sports were hampered as the snow that did fall, didn’t have much “staying power,” which is to say a thaw or a rain or both would come along and hurt its consistency.
This winter I am thinking that many County communities will get around 120 inches of snow. For Caribou, this would be a 25 percent increase over last year, and would be about a foot above normal. I am also forecasting a colder winter than last, (one which was exceedingly mild!). So with colder weather in my forecast, I believe the snow will have significantly better “staying power” this winter as compared to last winter.
In terms of energy usage, I am forecasting that you will use 15 to 20 percent more of whichever type of fuel you use this winter, as compared to last winter.
One cautionary note about winter snowfall, I am a fan of paying attention to trends in weather and there have been two low pressure systems this fall that have taken a track just south of Nova Scotia. A track like that for a strong winter storm may bury Portland and even Bangor, but this is not the “jackpot” track you want to see if you are a snow-lover in The County. It will certainly be something to watch in the weeks ahead.
Make sure to get out this winter! We have such incredible outdoor winter resources in our area, and the winter air is crisp and refreshing!
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.
