Aroostook gets a dusting of snow Thursday

PRESQUE ISLE – There was no snow for Christmas, but Aroostook County got a dusting five months later. Northern Mainers awoke Thursday morning to a light blanket of snow on their green lawns and tulips. Most of it melted off by midmorning.

This was not a significant snowfall, with towns across the region having an average of 1 to 2 inches on the ground, Lee Foster, meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Caribou, said Thursday.

The St. John Valley had “nothing but a trace” and towns such as Oakfield and Washburn received 2 inches apiece, Foster said.

The meteorologist admitted that the precipitation isn’t necessarily welcome in May, but it does happen.

“It’s not uncommon to have snow here in the middle of May,” he said.

Foster said northern Maine got the snow after winds blew cold air from Canada into northern Maine, causing a low-pressure system in the area to change from rain to snow. That system has moved off to the east, he said.

Weather officials don’t expect to see more snow in the area this spring, but Foster said you never can tell.

“I wouldn’t say it’s completely out of the question,” he said.