A Maine Winter Snow Storm in May? Is this Actually Possible?

Winter took so long to get here this year, it happened in April.

There we were... shoveling snow in the first week of April. Then what, three days later it was gone and we were having a delightful 60+ degree day, watching the eclipse. But the couple days leading up to it were crazy. We easily got the better part of a foot of snow at my house that day.

Read More: Maine Residents Share Their True Feelings About Dealing with Snow

Sure, it didn't last long, but it still felt ridiculous to be dealing with that kind of snow when we should be digging out our summer clothes. But, snow in April is hardly beyond the realm of possibility. But what about May? Would you be shocked to find out that it's entirely possible for us to get snow in May, here in Maine?

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Maine has gotten May snow more than once.

On May 11th 1945, the city of Portland got 7 inches of snow. Then on May 16th 2016, the northern part of the state got 4-7 inches in some spots. Cold air came in from Canada and caused some headaches for a couple days. Imagine, probably all the gear was put away for the season, and then had to drag it all out again. Yuck.

But the latest snow in Maine ever, happened on May 25th 1974, when Caribou got .02 inches, or almost a quarter of an inch of snow that day. While that's not much, it was probably still maddening to look outside on what was so close to Memorial Day, and see flakes piling up.

We've gone even later than that though, technically.

Now, maybe you've heard of the summer of 1816, when New England basically had no summer at all, thanks to the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia. Volcanic ash blacked out the sky that year, and there a May frost that killed just about everything, crop-wise. And then June snow finished the job.

Read More: Maine Law Now Says You have to Remove Snow and Ice from Your Car

Lakes were still frozen by mid-summer. I can't even imagine what that all must've been like. Thankfully, nothing has happened like that since. But we get small glimpses when wildfire smoke affects our sunny weather here in Maine. But if you think it's impossible to get snow in May here in Maine, think again!

Let's see if Maine shows up anywhere on this list... Keep scrolling...