This is almost noose worthy, Talk about depression.
November temperatures were 4 to 6 degrees above normal and this
warmth continued into early December. The rest of December featured
large swings in temperatures with significant early season snowfall
followed by a warm rain system towards the end of the month. This
rain system depleted the early season snowpack and caused
widespread river flooding across western Maine and New Hampshire
with rivers still running above normal. December ended with
temperatures running 2 to 6 degrees above normal with above normal
precipitation.
After a modest snow and mixed precipitation event to start
January there has been a notable pattern shift with the storm
track suppressed well to our south. This shift in the storm track
can be attributed to a strong upper level ridge and blocking to
our north thanks to a negative North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO).
This dry pattern is expected to continue through mid-January with
storminess suppressed to our south. Generally, in negative NAO
patterns temperatures are favored to run below normal, but medium
range guidance indicates that temperatures will run near to above
normal. There are signs that by mid-January the blocking
associated with the negative NAO will shift further northward,
which would allow the storm track to shift closer to northern New
England and more active weather going into the second half of the
month.
The Climate Prediction Center`s 6 to 10 day outlook calls for
above normal temperatures and below normal precipitation. The 8 to
14 day outlook calls for temperatures to be above normal with
near normal precipitation.
...OBSERVED SNOW DEPTH AND WATER EQUIVALENT...
...NEW HAMPSHIRE...
Snow depths across New Hampshire are mostly 10 inches or less with
bare ground near the seacoast. Only across the high elevations in
northern New Hampshire do snow depths exceed 1 foot. Snow depths
are below to much below normal across all areas of New Hampshire.
An inch or less of water equivalent is contained in the snow pack
across areas below 1000 feet. Above 1000 feet...snow water
equivalents increase marginally between 1 and 3 inches. Snow water
equivalents are below to much below normal across all areas of
New Hampshire.
...WESTERN MAINE...
Snow depths across western Maine are below 5 inches near the
coast with bare ground in extreme southern Maine. Across the
interior snow depths are mostly under 10 inches and the only
locations with depths that exceed a foot are locally confined to
elevations above 1000 feet. Snow depths are below normal across
all of western Maine.
Snow water equivalent is well below normal for the time of year
and ranges from little if any in southern York county to 1 to 2
inches near the Canadian border.
...SOIL MOISTURE AND WATER SUPPLY CONDITIONS...
Although New Hampshire and western Maine were experiencing
drought conditions through the Fall of 2020...above normal
precipitation in November and December have led to significant
improvement in drought conditions. Soil moisture anomaly maps from
January 6 indicate near normal soil moisture across Maine and
slightly below normal soil moisture across extreme western Maine
through much of New hampshire. The latest Palmer Drought Severity
Index from 2 January 2021 shows near normal conditions across New
Hampshire and western Maine. The Palmer Index looks at conditions
over the range of weeks to months.
Reservoirs in the Androscoggin River basin are 75.3 percent full
which is 15.8 percent above normal. Reservoirs in the Kennebec
River basin are 77.1 percent full which is 20.2 percent above
normal.
Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire is running just slightly above
normal for early January.
Groundwater levels courtesy of the USGS are mostly in the normal
range with the exception of below normal being in Northern New
Hampshire.
...RIVER AND ICE CONDITIONS...
River flows across New Hampshire are near to above normal and
above to well above normal across Maine. In fact...flows at the
head waters of the Kennebec River basin are at record high flow
levels.
The very warm start to winter combined with the rain at the end of
December has led to much of the ice in place to be flushed out.
