THE BLIZZARD OF JAN. 29

Kim Pfusch rides her bike during the Jan. 29, 2022, blizzard on Walnut Street in Lewiston. “I went to the Dollar Store and bought a lot of glam (to put) on my bike so people can see me,” Pfusch said. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

A storm slammed into Maine starting in the early hours of Jan. 29 and intensified throughout the day, marking the first time since 2018 that the Gray-Portland National Weather Service Office issued a blizzard warning. Heavy snow and winds gusting between 40 and 60 miles per hour caused near-whiteout conditions at times, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s storm event database. The Portland Jetport measured a peak wind gust at 59 miles per hour – the highest it would see all year – and 13.2 inches of snow, which was also the greatest 24-hour total snowfall for the year. The Auburn/Lewiston Municipal Airport measured a peak wind gust of 48 miles per hour. By the evening hours, snowfall totals ranged from 8 inches near Livermore to 18 inches near Durham in Androscoggin County, 12 inches near Saddleback Mountain in Franklin County and 10 inches near Woodstock in Oxford County. The blizzard was followed by a cold front and Portland saw its coldest temperature of the year on Jan. 31: 7 degrees below zero.

A plow truck scrapes snow off a deserted section of outer Court Street on Jan. 29, 2022, in Auburn. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

RECORD-BREAKING HEAT AND DROUGHT

People gather the morning of July 21, 2022, for swim lessons and other activities at the town beach on Cochnewagon Pond in Monmouth. The scene played out across Maine as temperatures reached the high 80s and low 90s. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

Although a couple more storms in early February dumped several inches of snow across parts of Maine and upward of a foot and a half in the foothills and mountains, winter ended with a whimper, not a bang.

The last of the winter snowpack melted earlier than usual on March 8, and a lackluster end to the winter season and below normal precipitation through the spring and summer led to drought conditions across most of the state by late summer, according to Dr. Sean Birkel, Maine state climatologist at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension.

While June was cooler than normal, any hopes those conditions would persist through the summer were dashed by July, when the daily maximum temperature regularly hit the 80s.

By early August, all but Aroostook County was affected by some level of drought, with most of central and western Maine experiencing moderate drought and parts of coastal Maine experiencing severe drought. And then, extreme heat hit. From Aug. 5 to 7, temperatures did not drop below 70 degrees in Portland, Gray and Augusta, according to the National Weather Service. And for three consecutive days starting on Aug. 7, the high temperature exceeded 90 degrees, making it the hottest stretch of the summer. Aug. 7 was also the hottest day of the year in Portland, with the maximum temperature reaching 96 degrees.

It was also humid. Very humid.

“We’re seeing the effects of the Bermuda High, which is a blocking feature over the western Atlantic Ocean, which, given the recent La Niña, has been missing from our recent summers,” Mike Haggett, who runs Pine Tree Weather, told the Sun Journal in early August.

“This allows for a prolonged period of juicy air, from the mildly tolerable to the insufferable levels of humidity,” he said.

Although August ended with above normal precipitation, it wasn’t enough to end drought conditions. There were more than 50 wildfires reported and by Aug. 29, 83 private wells had run dry, according to the Northeast Regional Climate Center.

A group renting tubes from the Bethel Outdoor Adventure and Campground float down the Androscoggin River in West Bethel on Aug. 22, 2022. From left, all from Bowdoin, were: Sydney Bernier, Tyler Bernier, Ania Johnston, Robert Bernier and Kimberly Bernier. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

Quinn St. Peter-Scott, left, and Joe LeBlanc assess their capsized sailboat on Taylor Pond in Auburn on Aug. 4, 2022. The Edward Little High School sophomores were taking a sailing lesson from Taylor Pond Yacht Club instructors when they capsized and decided to stay in the water to beat the heat. Capsizing is common fun while sailing small sailboats, such as this Laser. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

OCT. 14 STORM BRINGS HEAVY RAIN, HIGH WIND

An aerial view of the swollen Androscoggin River shows water cascading over Great Falls, between Lewiston and Auburn, on Oct. 16, 2022, after heavy rain Oct. 14. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

Blowing into Maine overnight on Oct. 13, a southeaster storm brought high winds and much-needed rain to the region.

Wind gusts of 40 to 50 miles an hour downed trees and power lines and caused more than 100,000 Central Maine Power customers to lose power by the evening of Oct. 14. The storm also dumped record rainfall throughout the state, with Portland and Gray both receiving the greatest 24-hour total precipitation for the year, at 3.27 inches of rain and 3.38 inches, respectively.

The rains also caused flash floods in some areas: The National Weather Service reported that the Ellis River near Andover and the Swift River near Byron, both in Oxford County, overflowed, causing road closures and hindering access to those areas.

But the heavy rains and other seasonal precipitation did their job: By late October, Maine was free of any drought and dryness, according to climatologist Jessica Spaccio from the Northeast Regional Climate Center.

Dana Alderson looks out over a fallen tree limb in Lewiston’s Kennedy Park on Oct. 14, 2022. Alderson said he just missed having another tree limb fall on top of him as he walked through the park earlier in the day. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

A man walks along Pine Street on Oct. 14, 2022, as a strong windstorm and rain blew through Lewiston. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

Crews remove a large tree that knocked down power lines on Tall Pines Drive in Lewiston on Oct. 14, 2022. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

A VERY WARM START TO NOVEMBER

Bates College senior Ruby Cramer does homework on the afternoon of Nov. 9, 2022 in the quad on the Lewiston campus. She and many other students took advantage of the unseasonably warm temperatures to relax, study and play. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

Bates College senior Ruby Cramer does homework on the afternoon of Nov. 9, 2022, in the quad on the Lewiston campus. She and many other students took advantage of the unseasonably warm temperatures to relax, study and play. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

The first 12 days of November were marked by “exceptional warmth,” according to the Gray-Portland National Weather Service Office. During this unseasonably warm stretch, the daily maximum temperature went above 70 degrees three times in Portland and five times in Gray.

The temperature hit 75 degrees in Portland and 76 degrees in Augusta on Nov. 5. Those temperatures set the new all-time record high temperature for the day and for the month of November for both cities. The previous record of 74 degrees was set in Portland in 2020 and in 1990 in Augusta.

The next day in Portland, the low temperature did not drop below 59 degrees, breaking the all-time record warm low temperature for the day and for the month of November that was set in 1982.

A woman runs along the Androscoggin Riverside Trail in Lewiston on Nov. 1, 2022. Unseasonably warm weather saw people enjoying the outdoors dressed for summer. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

Ralph Sanborn dries hay with a tedder attached to his tractor in Wales on a warm Nov. 3, 2022. Sanborn rakes the hay into windrows before it is baled and wrapped for cattle feed. “It’s a lovely office,” Sanborn says of working outside on a nice day. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

DECEMBER’S WINDY NOR’EASTER

A tree catches fire after hitting a power line on Garfield Road in Auburn on Dec. 23, 2022. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

A powerful Nor’easter slammed into Maine on Dec. 22-23, packing heavy rains and strong winds. Maine’s coastal communities were hit particularly hard: Portland recorded its highest wind gust of the year on Dec. 23 at 65 miles per hour and a period of high astronomical tides led the city to experience its 4th highest tide on record at 13.72 feet. Several coastal communities experienced damaging flooding.

By 9 p.m. on Dec. 23, a Friday, nearly a third of all Central Maine Power customers and 51,000 customers of Versant Power, which serves northern and eastern Maine, were without power. Crews from Canada and as far away as Georgia worked hard to restore power before a cold front that moved into Maine Friday evening plunged temperatures into the low 20s and teens by the next morning.

New Gloucester firefighters tend to a fallen tree on Upper Village Street on Dec. 23, 2022. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

A man’s umbrella turns inside out as he walks out of Shaw’s grocery store during a gust of wind in Auburn on Dec. 23, 2022. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

CMP crews repair power lines on Garfield Road in Auburn on Dec. 23, 2022. A tree earlier hit the lines and caught fire. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

Pimble Smith of Auburn Public Works uses a grader to clear ice along Lake Shore Drive in Auburn on Dec. 27, 2022. Water from Lake Auburn covered the road during the Dec. 23 storm, and the water then turned to ice when temperatures dropped that night. The road remained closed on Dec. 27 until the Maine Department of Transportation could repair damaged road shoulders. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal