NWS Gray, Maine Area Forecast Discussion
461
FXUS61 KGYX 221904
AFDGYX
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Gray ME
304 PM EDT Sun Mar 22 2026
.WHAT HAS CHANGED...
Chances for snow have increased across Southern New Hampshire
Monday morning. More snow showers are then likely in New
Hampshire and northern areas late tomorrow afternoon and
evening.
&&
.KEY MESSAGES...
1. Periods of snow and mixed precip continue into the overnight
hours tonight.
2. A couple more chances for snow follow on Monday into Monday
night.
3. Expect an active mid to late work week with multiple
precipitation chances and temperatures around or a bit below
normal for late March.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
KEY MESSAGE 1 DESCRIPTION...
Waves of precip continue into the evening hours tonight, before
becoming more showery through the overnight hours. Most of the
area continues to see snow, but southern NH, the CT River
Valley, and parts of the southern Maine coast continue to see
periods of mixed precip through this time period. Even in parts
of southern NH that have gone to plain rain, temperatures fall
to near freezing with areas of freezing drizzle and light mixed
precip showers during the evening hours. In areas where road
treatments have washed off in the rain today, refreezing and
black ice will be a concern on surfaces left untreated tonight.
The main shield of this round of precip moves east through the
late evening and early overnight hours. Snow showers likely
linger across the higher terrain through the overnight hours as
an upper level trough lingers into Monday.
KEY MESSAGE 2 DESCRIPTION...
Hot on the heels of the current system, another wave of low
pressure rides eastward, bringing another round of precip to
southern New England. This has trended northward since
yesterday, so another round of rain transitioning to snow is
possible through southern New Hampshire Monday morning, with the
best chance along the Massachusetts border. We`ll have to
continue to watch this closely, as it will likely be a quick
transition from a few inches of snow to nothing on the northern
edge of this wave of precip. It could still miss entirely to the
south and stay in Mass., but at this point some light snowfall
amounts are likely during the Monday morning commute across far
southern New Hampshire.
After this wave of precip, snow showers likely develop through
New Hampshire and northern areas during the afternoon hours and
continue through the evening as an inverted trough pivots
through New England. These areas stand the best chance to pick
up a quick 1-3 inches in heavy snow showers, with variable and
rapidly deteriorating road conditions late tomorrow afternoon.
Snow showers are possible elsewhere as well, but look likely to
be most concentrated in NH and northern areas at this point.
KEY MESSAGE 3 DESCRIPTION...
Tuesday should mainly be dry as high pressure settles in through the
day but the next weak wave and cold front approaches late Tuesday
night/Wednesday morning. Precipitation chances will be maximized (30
to 50 percent) over the mountains through the evening on Wednesday
as we are likely to see some scattered snow showers here, possibly
mixing with rain at times. We could see at least a small chance for
some snow squalls in and around the mountains given steep mid-level
lapse rates and a saturated dendritic growth layer.
A stronger system is then forecast to cross the region sometime in
the late Wednesday night through Thursday night time frame.
Precipitation with this system looks to be a mixed bag, starting as
snow late Wednesday night before transitioning to mainly rain or a
mix by Thursday afternoon. Then, depending on how long precipitation
lingers, we could change back to snow again Thursday night.
Regarding temperatures, highs will mainly range from the 30s north
to the 40s south Tuesday through Thursday, however we could see some
highs in the lower 50s over southern New Hampshire or southwest
Maine Wednesday and Thursday. A modest cool down is then possible
Friday into the weekend.
&&
.AVIATION /18Z SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/...
IFR in snow in rain prevails overnight even as precip ends, as
low ceilings linger. Areas of drizzle are possible overnight.
Ceilings gradually improve to MVFR tomorrow afternoon, but snow
showers are likely at NH terminals tomorrow afternoon and
evening. Gradual improvement to VFR is more likely Monday night.
Outlook (Tuesday through Friday):
Tuesday: VFR expected.
Tuesday night - Wednesday: Brief periods of IFR possible under snow
showers.
Wednesday night - Thursday night: IFR possible in rain and snow.
Friday: Improving to VFR with possible restrictions lingering in the
mountains.
&&
.MARINE...
SCA conditions continue in east-northeasterly flow through
Monday night, with marginal gale force gusts possible across the
eastern waters tomorrow morning.
An active pattern is expected to continue through mid to late week,
which will result in nearly continuous SCA conditions. There is also
a low chance for gale force wind gusts Wednesday through Thursday
depending on the location and strength of developing low pressure
over or just east of the Gulf of Maine.
&&
.GYX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
ME...Winter Storm Warning until 2 AM EDT Monday for MEZ007-008-012-
013.
Winter Weather Advisory until 5 AM EDT Monday for MEZ009-014-
018>022-024>028-033.
NH...Winter Storm Warning until 2 AM EDT Monday for NHZ004-006.
Winter Weather Advisory until midnight EDT tonight for
NHZ001>003-005-007>010.
MARINE...Small Craft Advisory until 8 AM EDT Tuesday for ANZ150-152-154.
Small Craft Advisory until 2 PM EDT Monday for ANZ151.
&&
$$
DISCUSSION...Clair/Hargrove
NWS GYX Office Area Forecast Discussion
