CARIBOU, Maine — An arctic air mass that settled over the state Tuesday sent the temperature plunging to 13 degrees below zero in Bangor, setting a record low for the date in the city, according to the National Weather Service.
Bangor was the only Maine city or town to set a record, according to the weather service. The previous low temperature in Bangor on Jan. 6 was 12 below zero in 1999.
While no other records fell, much of the state woke to subzero temperatures and stiff breezes that added potentially dangerous wind chills as Mainers bundled up to get to and from work and school.
The St. John Valley saw the lowest of the wind chill readings, with Frenchville hitting 39 degrees below zero and Madawaska at 29 below zero, according to the weather service.
Temperatures weren’t as bitter in the southern part of the state, according to the weather service’s Gray forecast center, with Augusta checking in with a low of 1 degree below while Portland’s low was 4 degrees.
“A weak system will bring some snow to parts of the state on Wednesday into Thursday,” Chris Norcross, a weather service meteorologist in Caribou, said. “It will be cold again Thursday, with the north below zero and Down East in single digits.”
Michael Cempa, a meteorologist in Gray, said wind chills Wednesday night into Thursday are expected to be 20 to 30 below zero in much of southern Maine and 30 to 40 below in the western mountains.
BDN Metro Editor Michael J. Dowd contributed to this report.
