Due to a combination of dry air and lack of storm organization, winter storm warnings have been discontinued over interior southern Maine and the western foothills. Areas under warnings have been converted to winter weather advisories, which are set to expire by noon. The morning commute will be a slick in areas over the western half of the state, but improvement will come by mid to late morning.
Dry air at the low levels held stronger than guidance anticipated, which has dropped expected snowfall totals. One heavy band worked through western & southern areas in the wee hours of Wednesday which is responsible for a considerable amount of the snow that fell. HRRR guidance above shows remaining snowfall estimates between 3 AM to 4 PM today and shows 1-2″ more to come in some areas. Snow tapers in the western mountains rapidly soon after daylight and leaves the southwest coast by noon.
Pockets of freezing drizzle are possible along the southwest coast this morning, but little to no accretion of ice is expected. Temperatures will rise to above freezing and negate the threat by mid to late morning.
Storm organization is another key element as to why this forecast busted out. The coastal low predicted to form is weaker and appears to morph into a weak wave. As a result, precipitation ends earlier than originally predicted.
By afternoon, it will remain mostly cloudy for most of the state with brief peeks of sun possible in southern areas. Snow showers return tonight, with the High Peaks region and the Crown of Maine picking up 1-3″ of accumulation, and a dusting to an inch possible for central areas. Southern Maine may see some flurries, but that is about it.
Due to the change in forecast, a live blog will not occur for this event. You can follow me on Twitter for the latest information @WesternMEwx.
NOTE: There will be no update this evening. Next update will be Thursday evening.
~ Mike Haggett
#IntegrityFirst
Updates are usually posted between 5 – 7 PM, when they happen. Please bookmark Pine Tree Weather in order to check to get the latest update!
For official forecast information: please check in with National Weather Service Gray for Western & Southern Maine and National Weather Service Caribou for Eastern & Northern Maine.
For more information between posts, please check out the Pine Tree Weather Facebook page and follow me on Twitter for breaking weather alerts & information!
Special thanks to Tropical Tidbits and Pivotal Weather for their written permission to use their graphics in this post. Use of WeatherTAP images used within their written permitted terms of media use policy. Additional forecast information supplied by the National Weather Service, WeatherBELL Analytics and AccuWeather Professional.
Always Stay Weather Aware!