Warmer temperatures near the ground in Maine led to some very strong winds on Monday, with gusts reaching up to 93 mph in certain areas of the state. This caused a significant number of power outages, one of the highest ever recorded.
On that day, temperatures in Maine soared into the 50s, which is unusually warm for this time of year when we typically experience temperatures in the mid-20s to low 30s. The reason for these powerful winds was the warmer air, which is lighter than cold air. This allowed strong winds from the higher atmosphere to descend to the ground. Normally, colder temperatures near the ground would keep these winds higher up, as cold air is denser.
It’s not easy to directly connect this specific storm to climate change because climate change is measured over long time periods. However, storms are becoming more frequent and severe due to the overall warming of the planet, which leads to warmer air and water temperatures.
This year might go down as the warmest on record globally, with the period from November 2022 to October 2023 being the hottest 12 months according to Climate Central. To understand these trends better, we need to collect data over extended periods and analyze it.
Wind speeds varied significantly from place to place during the storm. The highest recorded gust was 93 mph in Trescott, while Bangor reached 71 mph, Augusta hit 68 mph, and the Portland Jetport experienced 60 mph winds. Hurricane-force winds start at 74 mph.
Comparing this storm to a similar one in October 2017, where peak gusts ranged from 60 to 70 mph in several counties, we see that this recent storm caused more power outages in the four-county area, reaching about 125,000 compared to 100,000 in 2017.
The increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is causing more heat to be trapped, which is also absorbed by the oceans. This leads to a higher capacity for heavy rainfall, snow, and wind because every one-degree rise in atmospheric temperature can hold about 4 percent more water in each unit of area.
The warm air on Monday originated from a storm off the east coast of Florida and moved up the coast, causing tree falls and flooding. It was an unusually humid air mass for this time of year, according to Sean Birkel, the Maine state climatologist.
Jeremy Porter, head of climate implications at the nonprofit First Street Foundation in Brooklyn, New York, noted that weather events like Monday’s storm are becoming more common across the U.S., especially in the Midwest and Northeast, due to climate change, resulting in more extreme precipitation and stronger storms.
This particular storm caused a peak of 97,000 power outages for Versant Power customers, the highest ever recorded, surpassing last December’s ice and snowstorm at 72,500 outages and the October 2017 windstorm at 87,754.
Central Maine Power reported a peak of 423,600 outages during Monday’s storm, lower than the 467,200 during the 2017 windstorm but higher than the 415,000 during the 1998 ice storm.
Restoring power after this storm became the largest effort in CMP’s history, with 75 percent of customers having power restored by Thursday. CMP received several hundred transformers from Iberdrola before the storm, helping them move swiftly to restore power, given that transformer supplies were limited during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In conclusion, as climate change continues, we can expect more extreme and volatile weather events, and it’s crucial that we take a proactive approach to prepare for and mitigate the potential damage caused by what may seem like ordinary seasonal storms.
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DISCLAIMER: Author is under many pen names. This article was rewritten based on these links: Unseasonal warmth led to Monday’s record-breaking storm (bangordailynews.com)
