As a Mainer Am I Supposed to Know What a Snow Squall Is?
Apparently it’s wildly offensive of me to be a born-and-raised Mainer and not know what a snow squall is.
I had plans to drive from Yarmouth to Westbrook last night and thought nothing of the timing or the weather. I dilly-dallied in the kitchen taking my sweet time eating some dinner and slowly pulled my things together as the muffled news played in the background, talking about some “snow squall”.
As I obliviously sauntered around getting ready to leave the house, my phone started screaming at me about some emergency alert. I started my prayer for the Amber Alert, then realized it was a winter weather emergency warning for a “snow squall”. There’s that word again…
I now tuned in to what the meteorologist was saying on the T.V. and realized he was letting Cumberland County know to stay off the roads for the next hour unless it was for an absolute emergency. He warned of extremely dangerous driving conditions that would be starting in the coastal Portland area in 30 minutes.
The drive I was about to make was exactly 30 minutes. So me, not knowing the unpredictability of a mysterious “snow squall”, threw my stuff together, peeled out of the driveway, and headed on my way to beat this new weather phenomenon I had never heard of before.
Within 15 minutes, I was driving through a white blanket of wind and snow with no visibility other than the blurry brake lights I slowly followed in front of me.
I quickly learned what a snow squall was.
It lasted about 5 minutes, I made it safely to my destination, and I made an immediate Google search to find the real definition and truth behind the squall.
Apparently I am the only Mainer who didn’t know what this was. Have I been living under a rock? Maybe. I tend to hibernate in the winter, so this was a first for me but I got real up close and personal and can now proudly and loudly say I know what the heck a snow squall is. I survived one.