Heavy snowfall and high winds marked the first official day of winter in Lincoln County as a Nor’easter moved into the area on Sun. afternoon for an overnight visit.
Lincoln County woke up on Mon. morning to snowfall accumulations in the 12-17 inch range inland and the 10-15 inch range along the coast, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
NWS observer Arlene Cole in Newcastle reported a total accumulation of 14.5 inches on Mon. morning. A WGME channel 13 weather observer in Westport Island reported 17 inches of accumulation Sun. night.
Snowfall rates of 2 inches per hour were reported by the NWS on Sun. night, which combined with winds gusting to 40 mph created “blizzard conditions”, according to the NWS.
Snowfall began in Lincoln County on Sun. in the late morning and by 12:47 p.m. the National Weather Service (NWS) reported that snowfall totals in Bristol were already at the 4-inch mark. The Bristol total was the highest in the state at the time of the NWS report.
High winds were a significant factor during the snow storm, whipping up fresh fallen snow to reduce visibility and endangering power lines and tree limbs. During the day on Sun. winds were forecast for a sustained velocity of 15-25 mph from the east-northeast. After nightfall, the winds were forecast to increase to 20-30 mph sustained with gusts of 40 mph from the north-northwest.
The storm was courtesy of two low fronts that tracked in from the west, one with plenty of moisture from the south and the other with plenty of cold air from the north. The southern low arrived Sat. night – just in time to set up off the mid-Atlantic coast and begin tracking north.
The two fronts then worked together to create one humdinger of a weather system – with one low front over the Great Lakes contributing chill Arctic air and another low front near the Gulf of Maine feeding off a line of moisture that stretched all the way down the Atlantic, over the north Florida Peninsula, and into the Gulf of Mexico.
NWS issued a notably early Winter Weather Advisory on Fri. regarding this storm. The Winter Weather Advisory was later upgraded Fri. night at 8:22 p.m. to a Winter Storm Watch, and then further upgraded to a Winter Storm Warning on Sat. at 3:28 p.m.