Maine Nature News

Vol.  11, no. 1  Tuesday, January 3, 2006

Quick jumps:  This week's report | Editor's Column | From the Press | Home page

Saturday, December 24.  Orono (Map 23) I saw an ice formation, "pancake ice" in an eddy in the Penobscot River. There were about 20 "pancakes" with slightly raised edges in the eddy, from 6" to 1.5' wide, bobbing against each other in the waves. I read about this ice phenomenon in a book about the Antarctic.

Thursday, December 29.  Brewer (Map 23) I saw a sky phenomenon, a "sun dog" and a half halo around the sun about 10 am.  There should have been two sun dogs, but the clouds were too thick on the side of the sun without the sun dog. I read about sun dogs in a Barry Lopez's Arctic Dreams.

Tuesday, January 3.  Orono (Map 23)  Incredibly, the Stillwater River is still not completely frozen over.  There is a big long lead of open water down the middle from the Main Street bridge in Orono up to about the Steam Plant at the University of Maine.   In other years we were able to clear the snow and skate on the River by this time.  Even more inconceivable is the fact that as recently as 1979 the path of the Great Caribou Bog Wicked Winter Ski Tour and Race (link1,  link2) used to cross the ice on the Stillwater just North of the chimney marking the ruins of the old saw mill!  Now it's totally over land.  
   Maybe due to a combination of the heavy rains the last two months, the constant cycling of the temperature around the freezing point, and perhaps also global climate change.  F.W.

From the Press

Residents of County dig out;
39 inches of snow blanket St. John Valley in 48-hour period
From Staff and Wire Reports
Bangor Daily News, Wednesday December 28, 2005. pp. A1, A10

People in northern and eastern Maine were digging out Tuesday from a storm that pounded parts of the state for 48 hours and dumped more than 3 feet of snow in the St. John Valley.   By the time the storm ended, Fort Kent and St. Francis residents were coping with 39 inches of snow, one of the biggest snowfalls ever in the Valley. Clayton Lake reported 38 inches, Madawaska 37 inches and Caribou 31.7.

The wintry blast served to underscore northern Aroostook County's reputation for, well, winter. "There's a saying around here: You've got nine months of winter and three months of bad sledding," said meteorologist Duane Wolfe in Caribou.

All of that snow was good news for the Maine Winter Sports Center in Fort Kent, which will host four days of biathlon trials starting Thursday.   Biathlon is a sport that combines skiing with target shooting, and 20 men and 22 women will be vying in the TD Banknorth Festival for 10 spots on the team that will represent the U.S. at Turin, Italy.

Just a week ago, organizers had arranged a "shoveling party" for Dec. 26-27 "because conditions were pretty thin and we needed to shovel the snow in," said Max Cobb, a U.S. Biathlon Association official.   On Tuesday, officials were busy "shoveling out the venue" at the 10th Mountain Ski Center in Fort Kent.

"The joke is: we prayed for it, and we got it," said Nancy Thibodeau, event director. "It's beautiful snow and it's packing really well. Athletes like nice, packed, hard snow. That's what this is giving us. It's going to make the event even better."

The National Weather Service reported total snowfall measurements across The County at 9 inches to 39 inches, depending on how far north the community is located.   The storm dumped 30 inches on Washburn; Mapleton was swamped in 27 inches; Allagash came in at 26.5 inches; Van Buren received 24 inches; Mars Hill topped out at 18 inches; and Houlton received the lowest reported snowfall: 9.5 inches.

Area police departments said the snow and the poor road conditions it caused resulted in surprisingly few traffic problems.   The snow began falling early on Christmas Day, and the storm's fury grew on Monday, when it was accompanied by winds of 20 to 30 mph. The blowing snow created massive drifts that quickly covered roads that already had been plowed.

A National Weather Service meteorologist said Tuesday that the storm - which dropped 31.7 inches of snow in Caribou for 48 hours between Christmas morning and Dec. 27 - broke the 29.5-inch record set in February 2003.

For most people in the region, all those numbers translated into one thing: literally tons of snow that had to be shoveled, plowed or otherwise removed from roads and driveways.

In Presque Isle, Public Works Director Gerry James estimated that his plow crews would remove 18,000 to 20,000 tons of snow by the time they wrapped up work Tuesday night. He said he had all crews and 13 plows out all day Monday and that they were back out again early Tuesday.   "They only had about three hours off last night," James said. "But it's cleaning up good today."

In neighborhood after neighborhood, people were using everything from shovels to John Deere plows to clear the snow from their driveways so they could extract their vehicles.   Bevie McLean of Presque Isle said she had been up since early Tuesday, trying to remove snow from around her car. She finally gave up on making it to work, but said she has a secret weapon that may help in case the weather keeps up.   "Guess what I got for Christmas?" she asked with a grin. "A pair of snowshoes."

Icy roads cause crashes; snow hits County again
Bangor Daily News, Saturday, December 31, 2005 pages A1, A7
by Staff of the Bangor Daily News
The Associated Press contributed to this report

MADAWASKA - Steve Plourde, Joshua Golembeski and Greg Duplisee were making fast work Friday of removing snow from a 6,300-square-foot flat roof on Main Street.   Like many other enterprising young people in the St. John Valley, they have been busy this week shoveling snow off roofs straining under the icy weight.

More snow fell Friday, an expected 6 to 12 inches, on top of 36 to 42 inches that hit the area earlier in the week, all interspersed Thursday with rain and freezing rain.   In other parts of the state, snow and ice on roadways Friday afternoon caused numerous accidents, some involving injury, and caused traffic to slow to a crawl as drivers negotiated dangerously slick surfaces.

In the Bangor area, local police and the Maine State Police were called to multiple accidents, as drivers slid off Interstate 95 and traffic backed up on major roads. Emergency and police personnel were so busy that they couldn't respond to requests for specific information.

Pittsfield accidents

In Pittsfield, light snow over ice caused a series of accidents Friday afternoon that closed Interstate 95 southbound and sent six people to area hospitals.   Maine State Trooper Bruce Scott said the crashes began at 3 p.m. when the wind picked up and it started to snow on wet roads.

A 1996 Ford Explorer driven by Charles Blair, 52, of Silver Spring, Md., lost control and slid sideways into the median at the bridge over the Sebasticook River. The car then rolled over at least four times, trapping all four occupants.  

Injured were Blair, with back injuries; Rosalie Blair, 48, with serious facial lacerations; Lawrence Charles, 49, with head lacerations; and Robert Davis, 81, also with severe facial lacerations. All were wearing seat belts, said Scott, and "they can attribute their lives to that."

A nurse, Darlynn Church, 36, of Albion, stopped to render first aid and parked her car on the shoulder, its emergency lights flashing. Her 13-year-old daughter, Crystal Hillman, 13, also of Albion, remained in the front seat of the 2000 Chrysler Concorde.

A third car, operated by Christina Cole, 21, of Woodstock, New Brunswick, lost control and slid sideways into the rear of Church's car, injuring Hillman, who suffered neck and knee injuries. Seriously injured was a passenger in Cole's 2004 Chevrolet Impala, Peter Paul, 39, also of Woodstock, with lacerations and a major arm injury, according to police.

Ambulances from Sebasticook Valley Hospital, Clinton and Hartland-St. Albans went to the crash scene, and all of the injured were taken to SVH for treatment. Paul was transferred to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor for surgery, said Scott.

Piscataquis County outage

In Piscataquis County, Central Maine Power Co. customers in Dover-Foxcroft on the Guilford Road and back Sangerville Road lost power at 1:21 p.m. when a woodcutter felled a tree onto the transmission line off Route 7 in Dover-Foxcroft, according to a company representative. Power was expected to be restored by 6:30 p.m.

A dispatcher at the Piscataquis County Sheriff's Department reported that several vehicles slid off ice-covered roadways.

More snow in Aroostook

According to meteorologist Duane Wolfe of the National Weather Service's forecast office in Caribou, the snow was expected to taper off Friday night, but some of the St. John Valley could expect 6 to 12 inches of new snow.

"I can't really afford to have this done," said Ken Dionne, owner of the building being cleared of snow. "Coupled with the cost of fuel oil this year, it's kind of crazy to own a rental building.

"There really isn't much I can do with all the snow on that flat roof," he said. "I really don't know how much that roof can hold."

Since Monday, homeowners up and down the St. John Valley have been clearing snow, first from driveways and then from the roofs of their homes and buildings.

In the St. John Valley on Friday, brisk winds 10 to 20 mph, with gusts of up to 35 mph, made for nearly blizzard conditions during part of the day.

Temperatures fall

Temperature fell from the 30s on Thursday to the teens Friday morning. Wind chills of nearly 10 degrees below zero were recorded at Frenchville.  Temperatures were expected to drop to near zero by Saturday morning.

Driving conditions were tenuous, at best, on snow-covered roads. Road cleaning crews have been out straight since Sunday.  "We've been getting beaten pretty good since Monday," Yves Lizotte, foreman of the Madawaska Public Works Department, said Friday afternoon. "I've had men on the road day and night since Monday morning.   "I have guys that have been putting in 22-hour shifts this week," he said. "Some of the men have had enough."

The department was hit with two mishaps during the week. One truck went off the road, and another broke an axle.

More than a dozen cars and trucks slid off iced-over roadways Thursday night and Friday morning, but there were no reports of serious injuries, said Vern Ouellette, director of the Aroostook County Emergency Management Agency.

Far northern Maine recorded a half-inch of ice, less than feared, said Tony Mignone of the NWS office in Caribou.   That helped avert the downed power lines feared by Maine Public Service Co., which has 35,000 customers in northern Maine. "Everything's good. The lights are on," spokeswoman Virginia Joles said Friday.

County emergency officials sent 100 cots to the former Loring Air Force Base for use in temporary shelters as they prepared for a prolonged storm, Ouellette said.

In Augusta, state emergency officials monitored the storm and briefed Gov. John Baldacci. The governor will travel to the region on Saturday, officials said.

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