Ground Hog Day Blizzard (cont.)

(Continued from page 7)

cold air was being pulled south from Eastern Quebec into Maine.

The moist and relatively warm air being drawn in from the east was lifted over the colder air being pulled down from the north. As the moist air rose over the colder air, it condensed into snow producing clouds and sustained a heavy snowfall across northern Maine from early Sunday morning through early Monday morning. Across parts of New Brunswick, enough warm air surged in from the ocean to change the snow over to a prolonged period of freezing rain. Thousands of people were left without power following the New Brunswick ice storm. The kind of storm systems that typically produce our snowfalls begin as waves in the upper levels of the atmosphere. These waves generally propagate along the jet stream winds which run along boundaries dividing warm air to the south from colder air to the north. boundaries across North America. Commonly in the winter, there are two jet stream A northern branch jet stream running through Canada divides arctic air to the north from polar continental air to the south. A southern branch jet stream across the United States divides continental air in the nations mid section from subtropical air to the south. During our winters, waves of energy rippling along the northern branch jet stream bring us frequent light snows usually ranging from a dusting to an inch or two. Waves of energy developing and moving along the southern branch jet stream often develop well off the New England coast and intensify too far south and east of Maine to bring appreciable snowfall. However, once in a while, a wave of energy in the northern branch jet stream will phase with a wave of energy in the southern branch jet stream, locking in like a cog in a giant gear system. The two waves can then combine their energies developing into a large scale storm system. Our big storm on February second was a prime example of two waves combining to make a large storm system. As the storm intensified, arctic air to the northwest became entwined with subtropical air to the southeast transforming potential energy into wind flow and heavy snowfall. The storm of February 2nd delivered upwards of two feet of snow across Northern Maine.