Maine

Snow to Summer: Maine Experiences Dramatic Weather Shift

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People in northern Maine are adjusting to temperatures pushing 90 degrees after getting a foot or so of snow about two weeks earlier.

Todd Foisy, a science and operations officer for the National Weather Service's Caribou office, says the sudden shift is unusual, even historically.

"I looked at some past years, I haven't seen a shift as dramatic as this one," he said. "From May 2 on, we had two straight weeks of below-average temperatures every single day, then the snow stopped and the temperatures switched to warm, and now we're way above average temperatures."

It's an experience he calls a "year without a spring" and it has some real consequences.

Maine has had a busy wildfire season because of a lack of leaves on trees, which Foisy said happened two weeks later than normal. Anyone who's planned hikes up Maine's famed Mt. Katahdin may have to delay their trips because of persistent snow at higher elevations. Bodies of water, from the ocean to lakes and streams, are still dangerously cold for swimmers.

"That is a big hazard," said Foisy.

All that said, if you are planning a summer trip to the Crown of Maine, snowy weather should not be a concern, at least for now.

Foisy believes snow at lower elevations won't happen again until fall because the calendar is now past the latest recorded snow date.

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