Recent History Suggests Winter Isn’t Over in Maine Yet

The headline would suggest that many people have already moved away from winter and onto spring. Many in Maine are guilty of it, especially during a winter that has seemed anything but a typical one in the Pine Tree State.

El Nino has wreaked havoc on snowfall throughout the northeast, driving several storms out to sea. Many of the storms that have made landfall are centered around rain and wind versus piles of snow.

According to CNN, February is typically the snow goldmine for the northeast. More major storms hit Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts in February than any other month. This year? Not so much.

But before you put away that shovel or store the snowblower for the season, a quick look at recent history should give you pause. Just six years ago, March was the snowiest month, providing the Northeast with what felt like a month-long nor'easter.

It can be easy to forget that March 2018 was a nightmare for those ready to move on from winter into the spring. That March saw four different nor'easters plow through New England, dropping nearly three feet of snow on much of Maine. The calamity of big storms was deemed "four-easter".

Snow lovers everywhere are hoping for that kind of history to repeat. Problem is, there just doesn't seem to be a forecasting model that plays along. The Farmers Almanac promises some cold spurts in March, but mostly calls for rain rather than snow.

The NOAA is predicting an even warmer stretch for Maine and the rest of New England starting in March. The NOAA gives the region a 60-70% chance of having average temperates be well above normal for the season.

So is the snow all but done for this year? Unlikely. But the chances we'll be digging out from a major snowstorm seem just as unlikely. The story of the New England winter of 2023-2024 is somewhere in the middle.