Northern Maine is Buried in Snow and the Strong Winds Don’t Help

All of Maine saw high winds yesterday, but those winds are responsible for shutting just about everything down in Northern Maine Tuesday.

The problem with the winds up north is snow drifts. We asked WMTW meteorologist Sarah Long how much snow has fallen in Caribou this year and she said 147 inches so far. Normal for the season is 80.2, so they're on their way to 70 inches above normal!

The County gets big snow drifts even with moderate winds. With wide open potato fields usually right next to major roads, wind always creates drifts, but when extreme winds come into play, roads can be covered in several feet of snow in no time. Plows won't help, because as soon at they push it back, it ends up right back in the road.

That's caused roads to completely close until the winds die down. Not even emergency vehicles can get through.

There's no school as buses are buried in snow drifts.

The drifts have been continuing all day with a wind advisory issued until 6pm Tuesday after the sun goes down. That hopefully should allow crews some time to get the plows out to open up the roads.

Public Works crews are used to this and are experts at removing snow.

With winter still not over, The County is likely on course to set some major records for snowfall this year. Hang in there! Spring is less than a month away!