St. John Valley weather, Feb. 22-28, 2023

3-day Outlook: Wednesday, Feb. 22-Friday, Feb. 24

Partly sunny skies with a slight chance for some isolated morning snow showers are expected today along with breezy northwest winds. Tonight mostly clear skies in the evening become increasingly cloudy as a low pressure system approaches the Northeast. Some light snowfall is expected from this system across the north of Maine while heavier snowfall is expected to occur Downeast into central Maine. Little accumulation is expected for the SJV.  

The National Weather Service in Caribou said, “A second wave of low pressure then approaches from the west Thursday evening. This will bring another round of accumulating snow Thursday night and Friday, this time reaching the entire area. Latest model guidance suggests the highest snow totals with this system will be over the Central Highlands into southeastern Aroostook County.” 4-7 inches are expected in those areas with other areas seeing 2 to 5 inches, with perhaps lower amounts across the Saint John Valley westward towards Estcourt Station, the weather service said.

Snow tapers off by Friday afternoon as a cold Arctic air mass will moves into the region with gusty north/northwest winds. Daytime highs only reach the single digits above in the SJV with wind chill values well into the teens below zero. Friday night is expected to be partly cloudy with overnight lows in the teens below zero and breezy northwest winds. Wind chill values will be correspondingly frigid with projected wind chills below minus 25 degrees across much of the North, and even below minus 30 degrees in spots Friday night, the weather service said.

Daily Summary

Today: Isolated snow showers before 10 a.m. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 19. Northwest wind 8 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20 percent.

Tonight: Increasing clouds, with a low around minus 3. Wind chill values as low as minus 15. Northwest wind 7 to 9 mph.

Thursday: Snow likely, mainly after 5 p.m. Mostly cloudy and cold, with a high near 9. Wind chill values as low as minus 18. North wind around 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent. New snow accumulation of less than a half-inch possible.

Thursday night: Snow. Low around minus 1. Wind chill values as low as minus 15. Northeast wind around 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100 percent. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.

Friday: Snow likely, mainly before 1 p.m. Mostly cloudy and cold, with a high near 7. North wind 9 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70 percent. New snow accumulation of less than a half-inch possible.

Friday night: Partly cloudy, with a low around minus 13. Northwest wind 9 to 11 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.

4- to 7-day Outlook: Saturday, Feb. 25-Tuesday, Feb. 28

High pressure builds across the region Saturday with partly cloudy skies and breezy west winds and daytime temperatures only in the single digits above once more. Weak low pressure in the Atlantic draws a trough across the region Sunday with mostly cloudy skies across the SJV and possibly some isolated snow showers. Mostly cloudy skies Sunday night with lows dropping into the 0 to minus 5F range. Partly sunny to partly cloudy skies Monday as high pressure moves across the region followed by increasing clouds Monday night into Tuesday as a low pressure system approaches from the southwest, possibly bringing a significant snowfall to the area. However, forecast model consistency is too low presently to be certain about the details of this system.

Daily Summary

Saturday: Mostly sunny and cold, with a high near 7. Light northwest wind increasing to 5 to 9 mph in the morning.

Saturday night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around minus 11.

Sunday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 13.

Sunday night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around minus 5.

Monday: Partly sunny, with a high near 22.

Monday night: A chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 8. Chance of precipitation is 30 percent.

Tuesday: Snow likely. Cloudy, with a high near 26. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent.

8-to 14-day Trends: Wednesday, March 1-Tuesday, March 7

Near normal temperatures / Above normal precipitation

Note: Computer model precision diminishes the further into the week the forecast projects. Check the Fiddlehead Focus for weather updates with more current information.

The Week Ahead is the work of UMFK Professor Joseph E. Becker based on personal weather station data, various computer forecast models, and information that the National Weather Service, NOAA, and other weather resources provide.