BANGOR, Maine — The early November snowstorm that hammered parts of Maine has brought national news outlets to downtown Bangor to broadcast.
News crews from NBC and The Weather Channel are sharing a satellite truck that’s parked on Central Street. The crews are interviewing residents about the Nov. 2 storm that left an estimated 140,000 Mainers without power as of Monday morning.
Bangor received a foot of snow, according to the National Weather Service. Cary Plantation in Aroostook County reported 21 inches. The heavy, wet precipitation weighed down tree limbs and knocked out power across the region.
Keith Carson, a meteorologist from The Weather Channel, came to Bangor by way of the Manchester, New Hampshire, airport to report on the storm.
“Had this storm happened in January, it probably wouldn’t even have been on the radar,” said Carson, who worked for WCSH-TV in Portland until 2013.
“The power outages jumped out at us, 140,000 seems like a lot for this area, in a less populous part of the state,” Carson added.
Bangor’s foot of snow and Caribou’s 10 inches both set respective records for earliest double-digit snowfall. Bangor’s previous record was set in 1962 and Caribou’s in 1945, according to the National Weather Service.
New York City-based NBC meteorologist Dylan Dreyer came to Bangor prior to the storm, anticipating it could hit the region hard.
“This is the first big storm of the season, so Al Roker said we should to be here,” Dreyer said. “With the first forecast of the season, it’s hard to say ‘14 inches of snow’ and have anyone believe it.”
Dreyer was met in Bangor by an NBC camera crew and producer that had driven through the storm from Fort Kent, returning from a week of reporting on the Kaci Hickox story.
The crew shot a live segment for Sunday’s Today Show near the Hilton Garden Inn, Dreyer said. There’s potential that they will record a segment for the Nightly News in Bangor, but producers haven’t yet decided, she said.
Follow Nick McCrea on Twitter @nmccrea213.