Most of us have a story about the “winter that never seemed to end in 2018.” First, there were four nor’easters in three weeks. Then, April began with the coldest temperatures some cities have ever recorded (for weeks). But now Caribou, Maine joins the story with this simple tweet from the National Weather Service.
Snow depth of 11" this morning ended with 115 consecutive days with 12" or more on the ground @NWSCaribou for the 2nd longest stretch with >= 12". Record set last winter art 132 days. #MEwx
— NWS Caribou (@NWSCaribou) April 19, 2018
So if you think *your* winter was bad, let that statistic sink in! Imagine waking up 115 times in a row to find at least a foot of snow outside your bedroom window! Plus the fact that this season’s 115 days in a row was 2nd only to *last* season’s record of 132 straight days! We know, Caribou is a notoriously snowy place.
It sits as one of New England’s northernmost cities (roughly 47 degrees north latitude, similar to Duluth, Minnesota but slightly south of Seattle, Washington) and averages a whopping 108.6 inches of snow each season.
Here’s what lead up to this grand statistic.
- December 23, 2017: Caribou wakes up to a snow depth (amount of snow on the ground) of 10 inches
- December 23, 2017: Caribou gets 8″ of new snow
- Christmas Eve 2017: Caribou has a snow depth of 18″
- February 11, 2018: Caribou reaches its max snow depth of 36″
- April 18, 2018: Caribou’s snow depth drops below 12″ for the first time in 115 days
So was it the cold air that made the snow stick around, or new snow that continued to fall?
January 2018: Caribou records a temperature for the month of +1.9° to average
February 2018: Caribou records a temperature for the month of +5.2° to average
March 2018: Caribou records a temperature for the month of +4.2° to average
That’s remarkable! To be two to five degrees warmer than average and keep a snow depth of at least a foot is very impressive. Thus, it must have been the fresh snow that fell.
January: 38.9″ (+13.7″)
February: 25.3″ (+3.3″)
March: 26.1″ (+18.3″)
As of Wednesday, April 18 Caribou had received the 11th-most snowfall on record and sat at 137.1″ for the season. Any more snow coming? Well, maybe a little bit through the weekend of April 21-22.
For those wishing to put these numbers behind them, let’s end the story with a glimmer of hope from the National Weather Service. (How does 63° sound, Caribou?)
Big time warm-up by early next week! Check out the forecast highs for next Tuesday! #mewx #spring pic.twitter.com/566cPAle5E
— NWS Caribou (@NWSCaribou) April 19, 2018
(Cover picture of Caribou courtesy the National Weather Service)
For WeatherNation, Meteorologist Steve Glazier