An Exemplary Human Response to a New England Nor'easter! (credit: NWS Gray, Maine)

DISCUSSION: In the wake of most recent Nor'easter which hit both coastal and interior sections of New England including (but not limited to) the state of Maine, there were impressive snowfall totals reported across an axis from north-to-south across central Maine.  Having said that, the main story associated with this latest winter blast was the unprecedented number of winter storm reports which were submitted throughout the course of this winter storm across a large majority of interior New England.  There were well over 500 local storm reports submitted to the National Weather Service office in Gray, Maine during the course of this most recent winter storm.  This is impressive based on the fact even in some of the more historic snowstorms (or even blizzards) which have occurred during the course of the last few decades, there are often never more than 100-200 total local storm reports during the course of any given winter storm.  This is important since a larger number of submitted local storm reports help forecasters build a more comprehensive geographical understanding of the associated regional snowfall total map (e..g, by city, county, state, and even region).  This is noteworthy since this greatly helps for atmospheric scientists to more accurately research and study past, current, and future winter storms in order to improve major forecasts both in the short-term and the long-term future.

Here is a brief blurb from forecasters at the National Weather Service office in Gray, Maine describing their tremendous appreciation of the local and larger-scale public efforts during this particular winter storm!

"From Thursday afternoon through this morning our office issued more than 500 local storm reports. A big THANK YOU to all of you who contributed by providing valuable snow accumulation information. This was a difficult storm to forecast for, but you kept us busy with reports coming in nonstop, allowing us to stay informed enough to provide forecast updates. We really do appreciate all the reports during and after the storm. This is the final map based on the preliminary numbers we have received. Most of this snow fell in just a few hours Thursday evening into the early morning hours Friday morning with rates of 6 inches per hour reported."

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©2016 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz