The first snowfall of any significance in Aroostook County arrived overnight Tuesday morning as the second-latest measurable snowfall on record in Caribou, according to the National Weather Service.
Much of Down East, northern Maine and Greater Bangor woke up the Tuesday before Thanksgiving to a dusting of snow and continuing flurries, with the northern half of the state receiving up to 3 inches or more, according to the National Weather Service in Caribou.
The Caribou National Weather Service station was a day short of breaking the record for the latest measurable snowfall in November, which was Nov. 23, 1994. Based on the records dating back to 1939, 61 percent of the time there is at least 1 inch of snow on the ground on Thanksgiving Day morning, according to the weather service.
The record for the least snowy November in Caribou was in 1960, when 1.5 inches of snow was reported for the whole month, the National Weather Service Caribou office said in a Facebook post.
Light snowfall continued in central Aroostook County Tuesday as temperatures reached the mid-30s, with Wednesday expected to bring a transition to a partly sunny Thanksgiving Day with a high of 34, according to the weather service forecast for Caribou. For Bangor, the forecast calls for sunny skies and highs around 40 degrees Wednesday and Thanksgiving.
An oncoming weather system may bring a chance of rain in Bangor and rain or snow in Caribou Friday and Saturday, the forecast said.
As of Nov. 15, most of Maine was still in a state of moderate or severe short-term drought, with southern Aroostook being in drought and central Aroostook being considered abnormally dry.