Winter Storm Impacts Wx Challenge

For the second time in the month of November, Maine is once again about to get snow dumped onto them. This may not matter to a majority of the readers, but it is very important to people participating in the Wx Challenge competition. The current city for the Wx Challenge is Caribou, ME. Thus, this winter storm is important to roughly the 1700 participants in the competition.

It’s looking more and more likely that Caribou and places northward will get in on the snowy action as an area of low pressure will skirt just offshore of the northeastern coastline. The rain/snow line will be very close to Caribou, so it seems like this event could be boom or bust; one model says one inch, another says 16.

One thing is for sure, it looks like whatever falls will be heavy. Whether that’s rain, snow, or both, it looks like it will come down pretty heavy according to some of the high resolution models. This forecast is quite a tricky one because just a few miles can be the difference between a trace of snow, and about 8″ of snow. Below is a depiction of the rain/snow line, which is quite close to Caribou.

The National Weather Service in Caribou, ME has issued a Winter Storm Warning for the area, and they are currently forecast 7-11″ of snow for the city. The wide range is likely to account for low confidence in where the rain/snow line sets up. All in all, fun forecasting times are in store for those participating in the Wx Challenge.