Category: Maine Weather

Peace. Stillness Of A Maine Winter

Cold fresh air, pure white snow of a Maine winter can do a body and mind good.

I remember as a kid the joy of bundling up, putting on hats and mittens hand knit by my mom. To head outside to dig impressive snow tunnels, to make snowmen with brothers, sisters, the neighborhood kids.

Playing in the outdoor fresh clean Maine winter air kept us healthier.

We did not, still don’t hibernate inside over a Maine winter.

The Dog Rides In The Sled, Not Pulls It In This Maine Ice Fishing Lake Photo.

Maine winters. Not counting the days on a calendar like a prison sentence sitting in a iron bar small space.

The crisp cold Maine winter air purifies and stimulates our white blood cell production. It is the shot in the arm that boosts our immune system.

Let’s snowmobile out to the lake ice shack and see what everyone’s up to this weekend.

Get off the couch, turn off the television, put down the cell phone device.

Go sliding with the kids. Support a local ski mountain or local ice rink.

The shoveling snow off the steps and clearing walkways, opening up driveways provides physical exercise that boosts our energy levels. Gets those endorphins pumping while filling our lungs with crisp clean fresh air.

Playing in the white flakes of snow, moving and handling it around our Maine homes got us outside.

Look what happened over night while sleeping. Wow.

Rotate slowly 360 degrees around you at the sparkling crystal outdoor landscape.

You become very aware of the World around you spending time outdoors in a Maine winter.

Living in rural areas of Maine. Growing up, we all had family jobs and responsibilities in rural Maine. Snow handling was one of them. But we also played in the fresh Maine snow powder.

There is self-satisfaction pitching in and being needed as a family member no matter which of the four seasons growing up in Maine.

The natural beauty of a few inches of new fallen Maine winter snow transforms the backyard overnight.

The lower temperature, whitewash frozen splash of pretty much one primary color. Mother Nature performs a one-color chip instrument solo of white.

Maine Is Small Town Friendly Living. Who Would Trade That For High Crime, Over Populated Not So Friendly Areas To Live If They Had A Choice?

Winter white on white. In stark contrast from just a few months earlier.

When Jack Frost waived the baton. Conducting the vivid harvest color explosion light show with a huge orchestra of peeper popping hues.

Picnic Food Just Tastes Better Looking At This When Munching What Gets Fished Out Of The Basket. Potato Pickers Move Field To Field In Fall Harvest Colors.

Bundle up and go outside in the Maine winter landscape.

The endorphins you create and natural feeling of wellness and contentment from crunching snow on a brisk walk improves the mood.

Look up, take in the Maine winter night sky light show of stars on the black velvet backdrop.

That natural beauty can not go unnoticed.

Develop a short walk habit and embrace not fear a Maine winter. Burn some calories just easy does it on the chunky sweater and too many clothing layers.

Bringing The Outdoors Indoors! Maine Winter, We Don’t Hibernate. Can’t Wait To Get Out In The Maine Snow!

Anyone in a northern tier state, with Scandinavian country heritage who loves to ski or snowmobile, ice fish and snowshoe knows how to dress.

All can agree if you are cold, you’re not dressed to match the Maine winter temperatures of the day.

And when you turn off the light and head to bed, cracking the window a tad.

There is nothing to compare to winter slumber and restful complete sleep during a Maine winter with some bedroom fresh air. (Unless you are not prepared for winter and have nightmares about not being ready.)

Stay caught up, don’t fall behind is simple Maine survival 101.

Welcome To Maine. You’re Here. You Made It!

If you are new to Maine, welcome. If just visiting during a Maine winter, there is lots to do and enjoy. Native Mainers are outdoors every day and just change up the wardrobe.

Attend a local community homemade supper, a very affordable snow sled club breakfast.

Climb into the stands of an ice hockey or local high school basketball game.

And definitely hit the recreation trails to witness wildlife, the smell of the woods and sheer expanse of Maine.

Maine, Less Colors Than Fall’s Explosion Can Be Dramatic Too!

Clear a lake or pond and skate on the sheet of smooth frozen water with fish swimming below. Down hill or cross country ski in Maine to take in the natural unspoiled beauty. Fill your lungs with clean fresh Maine air.

Being prepared for a Maine winter creates heighten anticipation and erases any fear and regret.

Insulating a Maine house to tighten up the cracks of cold air. Shortening up the square feet of living space. Heating with more than one source and playing the energy market.

Less people, more space, tighter connections in small Maine rural communities.

Boats Floating Along The Maine Coast In The Lincolnville Beach Area During A Maine Winter. Anyone Feel Like Fish Chowder Or Crab Cakes, Broiled Scallops?

Maine winter weather causes you to batten down the hatches and stay ahead rather than fall behind of the day to day. You become heartier and more resilient and appreciative.

The landscape shapes the local Mainer who is fiercely independent and hands on actively involved.

Chopping, splitting their own firewood, canning and preserving to fill their root cellar provisions.

Excited about the sugar bush maple sap collecting ahead during spring thaw. Boiling it down to amber sweet syrup to drizzle on your pancakes, waffles and ployes.

Saps Running As Temperatures Moderate And Winter Starts To Sputter.

Getting a new garden seed catalog to plan what to plant and where when spring renewal happens again.

Maine farmsteads with empty storage houses plant again. Work the soil, prepare the dirt for cultivating and planting another homestead crop on a Maine farm.

One Basket At A Time! Picking Maine Potatoes A Skill Learned By The Lucky Youth Growing Up In A Fall Harvest Potato Farm Field.

Summers on the waterfront, riding and hiking the recreation trails. Then another Maine winter spent like the other three seasons, outdoors.

A winter in Maine that you greet and look forward to like a reunion with an old friend.

But like being nervous before you get to know someone that becomes a friend for life, a Maine winter takes effort on your part.

Take a chance. Experience a Maine winter and don’t limit yourself to one or two seasonal visits.

Waterfront Islands, Sandy Beaches Make Never Fade, Memory Rich Vacations.

I know, I know Maine summer weather is hard to beat but layer up, find the value of wool and come on.

You and I are heading out in a snowy landscape in Maine to explore and discover.

Use the Maine weather to your advantage.

See how an old haunt like one of the 60 plus Maine lighthouse visits is so so different picking a different season to sample it.

Windy, No Tourist To Shoot Images, Video Around. That Is Why Winter Lighthouse Visits Leave A Lasting Impression.

Make the effort, see what happens and maybe what you have been missing during the end and the beginning of another trip around the sun.

Temperature 62, It Was Clear Blue Sky Sunshine On Total Solar Eclipse Day Houlton Maine. It Was April 8th, 2025. Perfect Weather For Viewing The Totality.

Before you just dismiss a Maine winter as something to dread and avoid at all costs. And instead of drawing the wrong conclusion from lack of trying and a lot of Maine weather myths. Gain perspective, log some hours in Maine besides when temperatures are highest.

Try the peace, the stillness, sample the quiet and learn a lot from the solitude of Maine’s snow white outdoors.

No black flies. Not as many tourists. No traffic and we never ever have to park on the street in small town Maine.

Everyone waves, says hello in Maine, the 4th lowest crime state. The cheapest state of car insurance and lots of other great things to set Maine apart from the rest of the World..

Maine Lighthouses, Big For Tourism And Fun For Locals To Visit. Over 60 Of Them To Collect Along The Rock Bound Craggy Coast.

Meg and I have skipped closing up the Maine lake home this fall. We are having fun spending the winter living on a Maine lake and blogging about the outdoor experience.

Thank you for following our Me In Maine blog posts series on living on a lake this winter.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

MOOERS REALTY 69 North Street Houlton Maine 04730 USA

December 14, 2025
Mud Season In Maine

Mud season in Maine.

It’s the in between winter and spring and can vary greatly in length. Maine’s mud season is the messy transition between bight white to the green of spring, typically from March through April, depending on the year. Snow starts to recede, dirt roads get muddy, temperatures raise the red in the glass tube during mud season.

As Maine Winter Snow Recedes And Mud Season Is Ushered In.

The Maine weather forecast with temperatures in the 50’s and a strong sun slowly help dry things out.

Thoughts turn to planting gardens, paddling fast moving water in spring river canoe races, puttering around your yard to fill in damage and ravage from snowplows. Changing studded snow tires back to your summer treads.

As snow and ice melt, dirt roads, driveways, and trails can turn into oozing, sticky mud as the frost leaves the ground. Lament ready or not that downhill skiing, snowmobiling trail riding is coming to end. The sanding and salt of winter suddenly is uncovered and hits you with the urge to quickly deal with the mess.

Scrambling to remove lake ice fishing shacks and mentally rehearsing the steps to open up camp starts all over again.

Mud season can be very short when snowfall is limited in Maine. The last two Maine winters have been light on the white stuff. Which hurts the economy that survives on healthy Maine snowfall amounts. Shaping the snow into groomed trails through the woods and down ski slopes. Plowing it, snow blowing it to keep your yard and driveway cleared and passable.

Tree Limbs Snap Off And Are Made Into Fire Wood. Clean Up As Mud Season Unfolds. Birds Visit The Outdoor “Refrigerator” For Frozen Treats. (See The Berries?)

It can hit you as overwhelming mud season anxiety to hose down your house, wash the windows and prepare for spring.

But whoa, slow down. The turn the corner from a Maine winter for here comes spring is a gradual transition. The clean up is going to take more than a few Saturday afternoons to accomplish.

Everything has to thaw out, dry up first. So a homeowner realizing it’s too early for many of the getting ready for spring tasks gets centered. Picking up, collecting blown down tree limbs off your lawn. Relaying to your trash can whatever you find for treasure from a litter bug pedestrian or motorist.

You get started tidying up but it feels like not enough time, conditions are just not right and the spring forward clock sleep change does not help your state of mind.

Maine Geese, Song Birds Return To Maine During Mud Season. You Are Another Year Older. Deal With It.

Jet lagged like and overwhelmed but coaxed into turn turn turn the season page.

It’s just too early and another snow fall or two that will quickly dissipate is probably ahead as winter sputters to an end with a final gasp.

Noticing, hey, the artificial tree wreath is still plugged in and on your front door. As you remove it, you see how badly weathered that original 1913 wooden door needs power washing. Then scrapping, sanding to finally apply new stain and waterproof protection. Add it to the growing long to do list.

Late To The Party, Last To Leave. Some Leaves, Berries On Maine Trees Linger Through Winter Into Mud Season.

What causes mud season?

Freeze-thaw cycles play a big role. Just like taking something out of the freezer. Warmer days melt snow, but cold nights refreeze the ground, preventing proper drainage and keeping the soil saturated. Maine’s landscape is the ugliest, starkest time. Like no make up, bed head hair and lack of sun all rolled up into one.

Maine Maple Syrup Sap Collecting, Moose Traveling Across Your Back Yard Or Back Forty.

Waterlogged dirt roads, a common feature in rural Maine, absorb melting snow and rain, turning into mud pits with deep ruts. Heavy equipment and vehicles only make it worse, as logging trucks, farm equipment, and regular traffic churn up the roads, sometimes making them nearly impassable.

Spring Must Be Close. The Pot Holes As Big As Your Car Prove It. Frost Leaves The Frozen Ground And Driving Zig Zag Adds Danger To Mud Season Driving.

Mud season affects your Maine daily life in a lot of ways.

Travel and driving can be challenging, with rutted, slick, and sometimes impassable dirt roads. Towns often post weight limits to “ban them” to prevent further damage from heavy loads.

Hiking and outdoor recreation take a hit as well, with trails too muddy and fragile to handle foot traffic without causing deep erosion. Farmers face delays because their fields are too wet to work in, pushing back planting and preparation.

See The Maple Tree Sap Buckets? Maple Sugar Shack Sap Production In Maine Woods. It Happens During Mud Season.

Many farm fields “warm up slowly” and due to snowfall run off accumulation amounts and poorly drained soil types, it requires planning.

To know where to start preparing the farm ground field acreage to avoid more down time pulling out axle mired mud stuck farm machinery.

Meanwhile, mud creeps into driveways, yards, and Maine homes, while sump pumps work overtime to handle basement flooding. Make sure your sump pump is plugged in, they work better that way. When outside your foundation ground is frozen, during the spring thaw ground water has no other place to go.

Winter “MOOves” Over During Mud Season Melt For Approaching Spring Green Pasture Grass.

But to fill your cellar if no proper drainage or you plowed your snow four feet high up against your house.

There is a trick to plowing snow in Maine.

Furnace oil burners that go under the ground water in your house cellar are a big concern. Especially for any Maine snowbirds who run away winters to the sunny south or traveling out west. A Maine house sitter quickly knows when the inside house temperature starts to drop from a furnace that fails to do its job.

That someone’s home noticing “I can see my breath in the kitchen” is an asset. They let you know, they call the heating oil dealer to let them know we’re out, bone dry in the 275 gallon tank. Sometimes the automatic fill up heating degree days time to fill up calculations get messed up, it happens.

Paddling A Larger Faster Swollen Ice Cold Maine River. Some Want To Win, Others Take Their Time To Enjoy The Free Ride Using The Current.

Empty houses in Maine over the winter that are heated but not monitored closely can rack up costly freeze up damage from broken pipes and running water. Despite all the challenges, the desire to spring clean and tackle yard work is strong. Mainers are not lazy, and after months of winter, the pent-up energy to get outside and start working is undeniable.

But frustration kicks in when the reality of mud season forces patience. The ground needs time to dry out, the frost has to leave, and things just don’t happen as fast as people want them to. It’s a time when “easy does it” and “all in good time” become necessary reminders, even if they’re not what anyone wants to hear.

Maine Lake Ice Thins Slowly. Get Those Ice Shacks Off In March Before You Lose Them!

To survive mud season, Mainers adapt.

Driving requires caution—avoiding dirt roads when possible, sticking to the middle where the ground is firmer, and being prepared for the possibility of getting stuck.

Walking means look for bald spots, sidewalks and trail sections that are clear and melted. Or stretches of solid ice that could lead to a broken limb or sprain happen so you get over in the snow bank or straddle the edge of something crusty, rough and safer to navigate on than smooth polished glare ice.

What Shows Up Out Front Your Maine Lake Home. Watch Video For This Pair That Popped Up At 5AM Coffee Time.

Proper gear is essential like all the seasons in Maine. Rubber boots, extra shoes in the car, and gravel or wood planks by doorways to help keep mud out of the house. Setting up the orange pylons or grade stakes with brightly colored surveyors tape or nylon rope to try to keep people, motor traffic off your lawn.

The same temporary danger warning to avoid potholes or what is now PC called “pavement deficiencies”.

Those highway cracks and crevices can knock a car’s front end out of alignment or an accident trying to avoid them or at night when they blend in and are harder to see.

Frost heaves, natural speed bumps force motorists to slow down and like clock work, they appear in the same spots year after year. Frost heaves get your attention and train you to ease off the throttle as everything in your car and truck including your and passengers goes up and down with a thud.

Early Morning Sunrise On A Maine Lake Losing It’s Ice During Mud Season.

Protecting the Maine home and yard means using mats inside and outside doors, spreading sand or crushed rock on driveways for traction. Resisting the urge to start yard work too soon to avoid damaging the still-thawing ground. Many of the rolled up lawn sod clods are frozen in place.

You can try to shred them and replant or put them back to where they used to be before the yellow Fisher snow plow gave them a new home.

Take off your shoes, wipe your feet and paws and try to keep the fine dust and dirt outside of your Maine home.

While mud season is a hassle, it’s also a sign that spring is on its way. Sugar shacks are boiling down maple syrup sap, birds are returning, the sun increases strength under its natural heat lamp.

Mist, Open Water On A Maine Lake.

Soon enough, the snow with rain, wind and warmer temperatures will disappear like Frosty. Maine land will dry out and everything will turn green again. As Mainers say, “If you can survive a Maine winter or mud season, you can survive anything.”

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

MOOERS REALTY 69 North ST Houlton Maine 04730 USA

March 17, 2025
Lake Ice Fishing In Maine

Lake Ice fishing in Maine.

The warmer than usual temperatures earlier this winter made Maine lake ice fishing impossible. Open water kept ice fishing shacks from populating Maine lakes earlier this winter. And this week’s Maine weather forecast is calling for more above freezing point temperatures.

Everyone Enjoys Outdoor Maine Lake Ice Fishing. Even The Family Dog.

The tug of war from no ice to a thin layer then back to open water forced Maine winter outdoor lovers to try other sports.

Not that small Maine down hill ski areas have it much better. Lucky to have any mountain trails available like this Hermon Mountain ski area short video shows.

Making snow is expensive and higher than normal Maine temperatures messed up skiing, snowmobiling, snowshoeing too. Winter snow is vital to Maine tourism at local lodges, motels, restaurants and communities that depend on the white stuff to boost the economy.

So back to lake ice fishing in Maine.

This past weekend thanks to a few days of lower weather forecast temperatures, Maine lakes firmed up enough to allow ice fishing.

Watch a drone aerial video of Drews, Nickerson Lake ice fishing in Aroostook County.

Saturday all around Northern Maine ice fishing enthusiasts headed out onto frozen lakes to set up the shacks. To drill the maximum five holes to open up the Maine lake. Dropping the baited lines, setting ice fishing traps to wait and watch for the orange flags to trip. You’re not going to get a hernia from the pace of the Maine lake ice fishing sport. It’s not a race waiting for fish of all types to nibble on the line.

Ice fishing Maine lakes is not a highly strenuous outdoor winter spot.

But there is lots more to it than just catching your limit or the largest fish pulled up through the hole during an ice fishing derby.

Kinda Windy Out In The Open On A Maine Lake Ice Fishing. No Trees For A Wind Break As Gusts Pick Up Speed Down Across The Frozen Layer Of Lake Ice.

The ice fishing shacks have all the creature comforts.

More chili? Pulled pork sandwiches or baked beans? Oyster or better yet fish chowder? Some hot chocolate? I’ve seen Satellite dishes to watch the super bowl. Gas or wood unit stoves heating the smaller square footage. The wind gusts pummel the small shack hauled out to be your temporary home ice fishing.

Winds and blowing snow creates the cozy, tight quarters home away from home by yourself on a Maine frozen sheet of lake ice.

This year’s drought of snow and unseasonably warm temperatures have fouled up ice fishing, snow skiing, all of the winter recreation in Maine. Here is the local Maine ice fishing lake report around the state.

Snowmobiles A Big Part Of Maine Ice Fishing. Lugging Your Gear, Food, Fire Wood… The Shack Out To Your Spot On A Maine Lake.

Spirited cribbage board and card games happen during Maine lake ice fishing season.

The kids are pulled by snowmobiles on toboggans, saucers and sleds. Four wheelers are equipped with tracks to keep them from getting stuck.

Ice Fishing On Maine Lakes, A Plowed Or Groomed Roadway Leads To The Village Of Ice Fishing Shacks.

Roads are plowed down the middle of Maine lakes using pickups or snow sled club groomers for the temporary transportation.

Hauling out the ice shack, the tents, the Jiffy ice auger and supplies for food and fun.

An eight inch hole is best for larger fish that won’t fit so easily through a six inch one. But a ten inch hole would be dangerous for ice fisherman and their friends, families who could accidently step into them and potentially hurt their legs.

Drews Lake Maine Group Of Ice Fishing Shacks. Fishing Derbies Around Maine Lakes Make Angling For Fish Profitable And Competitive.

I know a friend of mine who was fishing for salmon on Deering Lake in Weston Maine who cut his leg on the ice auger.

A few years back, he had an accident. He lost quite a bit of blood and drove himself to the local hospital. The motorized auger got too close to this snow sledding boots. Bit him. A buddy system and measuring the ice depths all help make ice fishing less stressful for the local Maine game warden.

Maine Drews Lake Ice Fishing Derby Happened As Part Of Moosestompers Weekend.

A friend of mine lived on Drews Lake and in high school if I ask permission to spend the night, my Dad would always make me promise.

Don’t drive on the ice. I can hold my breath, but not until spring. You go through the hole in the ice and might not find an opening to come back up through if their is a water current.

Socializing, More Than Just Fishing For Supper Or A Trophy Under The Frozen Sheet Of Maine Lake Ice.

The thought of falling through the ice walking, on a snowmobile or in a vehicle is a nightmare I don’t want to be in. But flying the drone and thanks to a telephoto camera lens brought along for the capture from shore,

Dad would be happy. I did not have to drive out on the ice to get closer to the ice fishing lake action for the video and still photography.

Making A Weekend, Enjoying A Maine Winter Ice Fishing On Drews Lake!

Blogged earlier about a fellow losing his brand new DeSoto car sinking through East Grand Lake a while back on this Me In Maine blog.

Ice fishing a Maine lake?

Ever do it? It is peaceful, quiet and you never know who will stop in by cross country ski, snowmobile or driving out to your ice shack to visit. Maine, we don’t hibernate and sit on a couch shivering. Playing outside learned as a kid and sticks with you until the end of your days living and enjoying rural Maine.

Drone Aerial Of Nickerson Lake Ice Fishing This Past Weekend Up In Aroostook County.

Dressing with layers and the right gear to be out in the fresh air in Maine.

True Mainers are outdoors everyday of the year and loving it. Blue sky, fresh sparkling snow, the sound of it crunching under foot. Winter air invigorates and increases awareness in the stillness around you up to camp in Maine.

Ice fishing in Maine is one more winter sport to help pass the time as the kitchen calendar sheets one by one get checked off and used up slowly.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Real Estate Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

MOOERS REALTY 69 North ST Houlton Maine 04730 USA

February 6, 2024
Weather In Maine

Weather in Maine.

What’s in the weather forecast today and down the road is pretty important. Especially if you work and play outside in Maine.

Aerials Capture The Local Surroundings Using A Real Estate Drone.

Unless you are stuck inside, parked on a couch, the outside weather in Maine is pretty darn important.

If your job is at always chained inside to a desk, the forecast weather rain, sun, snow, wind, temperatures impact are not so critical. But true Mainers are outdoors every day of the year. Can’t wait and just make sure to dress accordingly. So many myths about the Maine weather

Have a son who lives in Leadville CO which gets snow fall of over 140 inches a year. Inland Maine gets 100 inches or so of white stuff. More on snowiest area of the US.

Ask a Maine farmer if the weather matters to his/her livelihood.

The family farm depends on just the right amount of rain water. Too much in the spring, delays tilling the soil to prepare the cultivated ground to receive seed. A shorter growing season is one sure way to limit the yield which is your bread and butter. Bigger crops mean more return to pay the one annual payment to stay on the family farm operation.

Breaking even is considered a good year and the weather usually is the biggest culprit in making the feast or famine situation.

The profit is in the expenses because the USA has a cheap food policy. Lots of middle men to get the food serves up on your family table to enjoy. Weather in Maine is one big variable that challenges the bottom line of any farmer in Maine.

From The Air, The Parts Of A Maine Farm And Woodland.

Non stop water keeps the farm tractor from cultivating whatever you plant on the Maine land. Wet falls mean delays in harvest. Or more time spend getting stuck and a struggle to get the crop out before a killing frost happens.

Weather in Maine affects the guys and gals in the full rain gear heading out of a Maine fishing village harbor.

Gale force winds, sleet and snow just increases the dangerous job of fishing off the coast of Maine.

The Coastal Fishing Zones That Slice & Dice Maine’s Craggy, Rock Bound Coastline.

Rainy days at “uptah camp in Maine”.

I will agree some early misty mornings enjoying a fresh coffee are reflective. But weren’t we planning on hiking Mt Katahdin today?

The white water river runs down the mighty Penobscot, Kennebec or Dead depending on the weather in Maine.

Our Highways To Thrill And Maneuver In Maine. Less Travels, Sometimes Watery.

How many in your party and are you a little nervous when the captain of your boat explains what to do if you fall out. If the raft flips over. You plan on getting wet but a hot sun overhead helps the cold chills. When you eddy out to empty the rubber boat, it helps to feel the sun or just glad you are wearing a neoprene wet suit.

Weather in Maine.

Think what if you are a airplane pilot. Ever been delayed from take off in Maine to Florida for the icing the plane procedure? Some days better than others to lift on without a hitch in the flight schedule.

The Falls Colors Explode. Natures Second Bloom Fireworks Happen In Autumn.

I’ve always respected the weather safety flying in Maine variables it takes for the pilot up front

He or she does not want to die or lose any of the crew, the passenger fare load behind in first class and coach. When he, she, their co pilot and crew take off to fly the friendly or not so fun skies.

Studying and passing a FAA Part 107 sUAS drone license just hammered home the point.

Small Private Operator Aircraft Fill A Hangar At A Maine Community Air Field.

Flying seems way way easier than it looks. Ever read a busy airport sectional chart? What do you mean it looks like an upside down wedding cake for controlled air space regulations?

Here are drone laws in Maine.

And METARS, TAF weather reports to study before leaving an airport in a plane or whatever location you launch your unmanned drone. To most people the weather’s impact means just don’t bother washing the car today, it’s gonna rain. Or it will just as soon as I soap up and rinse down wax the vehicle you drive.

Change or weather in Maine or temperatures means more than rethink the wardrobe selection.

Wings & Wheels Fly In To Houlton International Airport (KHUL). Like To Learn How To Fly Like A Bird?

Let’s reconsider the plans to take the kids water skiing or tubing on a Maine lake today due to the choppy rainy colder temperature conditions.

METARS are issued hourly unless significant weather condition changes occur. Wind, precipitation, sky visibility, cloud cover, temperature changes. All that and more are jammed in that weather report aviators use to prepare for what’s ahead.

Here’s a METAR weather report for KHUL, my local Houlton ME airport.

KHUL 231053Z AUTO 00000KT 9SM CLR 03/03 A3034 RMK AO2 SLP278 T00330028

Looks pretty cryptic huh? Not so much once you one by one study each category in the list of flying shorthand. Pilots read them with ease and they are not so hard once you learn out to decipher them. The weather in Maine is critical to whether we fly or not today. With a Maine real estate drone mission, it’s safety first.

Maine Hot Air Balloons. Like To Fly Without An Engine? Turn On The Gas Burner Wilbur Or Orville.

Besides wanting to capture stunning light bright clear stills and video loops from overhead, you want to the real estate drone to return to base. Lots of rules for good reason on where to fly and where you need a drone waiver. Hot air balloons or gliders are a hazard to watch out for flying. The helicopters, airplanes have the right of way so stay clear of those Maine licensed drone pilots.

Drones for real estate, for inspections of roofs to bridges to towers, for agriculture, for national defense, broadcasting, community reels.

The FAA has a lot of extra work to set up rules to control air space use by licensed remote unmanned drone pilots. You don’t want to be collecting drone video loops and still photography images in a lightning storm.

Drones Fly 400′ High Or Under. To Stay Clear Of Helicopters, Other Airplanes, Hot Air Balloons, Gliders.

Flying a drone in Maine.

The weather can ground the drone mission for safety reasons and just because the drone photography needs to captured with blue skies, little or no winds at just the right fly by angle, time of day.

This Is Not The Landscape Where Too Many People Live. Maine Is Less Population, More Natural Unspoiled Space.

Real estate drone video photography is way more than just controlling two thumb stick controls and flying skills.

It’s the same real estate photography and video making skills apply standing on your own two feet on the ground around the new property listing.

Tail Gunner On A B 24 Bomber, John R Mooers Happy. Made It Back To Base ..Barely.

My Dad was a B-24 gunner in World War II.

He wanted to be a pilot. Everyone did and they had plenty of those. His skinny size made him agile and able to fit easily into the back end of the four engine war aircraft. Before climbing up and squeezing back into the tight tail of a multi engine Liberator turned out every 55 minutes. With the help of Rosie back stateside operating the rivet gun.

Prior to a six or seven hour bomb run cramped quarters mission over a primary, secondary target in un-pressurized cabin wearing an oxygen mask. Some missions were “milk runs”. Other had complications involved and weather, mechanicals added to the will we make it home alive.

Cold as a barn at 20,000 or higher feet approaching your target over enemy territory. The plane smelled like a latrine and each flight member in the crew had a survival kit, a parachute.

In the kit was a chocolate bar, an ampule of morphine, some silk thread, a map, some silver certificate currency with the blue seal.

A post car written in seven languages says please help this airman to get to safety and there is a reward in it for the help behind enemy lines.

You can smell the 88 mm shell cordite and gun powder as sharp pieces of flak get a fix on your altitude.

Everything on whether to fly or not today revolved around the weather over the bomb run target. Daylight bombing was very effective but early on, half the planes did not return to base with the rest of the formation.

Weather for flying, from take off to making the big loop in all the artillery flak to return to base lighter than when you left base.

During war time, fighting on the ground and especially high overhead. It all depended on important weather forecast reports. Working around them to help write the words in the history book story.

Weather in Maine, planning your travel or outdoor lawn party, a wedding.

Heck, a long summer of rainy dreary colder days means lower sales at the local Maine ice cream dairy bar. People’s moods go up and down with changes in the Maine weather.

Maine weather changes fast and we have lots of it to make things interesting. I think learning to prepare and handle the weather in Maine helps define us. It makes you deal the best you can around things you can not control and to be flexible.

Thank you for following our Me In Maine blog that covers a range of topics!

Anything Maine is fair game. Please go back in the blog post archives for other interesting Maine blog post topics. And remember. Don’t like the Maine weather, just wait a moment and be ready for the change to keep things interesting!

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

MOOERS REALTY 69 North ST Houlton ME 04730 USA

October 25, 2022
Skiing Maine Mountains This Winter

Skiing Maine mountains, what’s ahead for Vacationland’s slopes?

Using skis to glide on Maine winter snow. Social distancing is not so hard at a small Maine ski area with or without a coronavirus or not. Heading up and over snow capped countryside cross country skiing where you make your own trails can happen on your personal schedule without a lift line involved.

Excited About Snow. Not Living In Fear Or Full Of Dread But Looking Forward To Winter Snow Skiing In Maine.

When you live in Maine, it’s easy to get up early, jump in the car or SUV loaded up the night before with ski gear.

To head out for a day on the Maine ski slopes. Then return to your own home sweet home. But when you are many hours away, the traveling during the pandemic protocol can add to the uncertainty. Your best memorable years winter snow skiing were ones where lots of white stuff happened. The coldest winters are open, bare and snowless. Plus no fun happens if no skiing or snow sledding the trails can happen when a Maine winter slows to a crawl with no show for fluffy crystal flakes.

This blog post looks at what skiing Maine mountains will look like this winter.

With folks working remotely online from home, Maine schools in and so far so good, many wonder what the big holidays of Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year will look like winter 2020-2021? Will ski vacations to Maine happen? Will locals get to strap on the boards to ride the snow capped nearby hills?

No one likes cabin fever.

Mainers are especially allergic to spending too much time contained by four walls. True Mainers are out every day, any season for the fresh air. We don’t let a little snow interfere with our stretching our legs and living life to the fullest. So as the ads for Maine ski resorts and early bird season pass discount pour into our physical and cyber mail boxes, thoughts turn like the calendar pages. To swishing, carving, skis together for the lift up in the air and quick ride down a Maine mountain ski slope.

Maine Winter Weather Is Coming. Locals Are Ready To Snow Ski, Snowmobiling, Ice Fishing, Playing Pond Hockey!

So checking in around the state of Maine ski areas to see what’s up ahead when snow happens.

The natural kind or what gets created out the end of the overnight spray nozzle. Before the surfing the web to glean the Maine ski websites though, what kind of a Maine ski winter is predicted anyway? Near normal snow levels and milder temperatures due to the ongoing La Nina weather system.

Outside of Northern New York and Northern Maine where I hunt and peck, less snow last winter happened.

Maine Winter Wonderland, In The Woods, On The Trails Playing in The Fresh Fallen New Snow.

Some weather experts say the vortex stayed in the arctic and lack of polar blasts caused a lighter snow load winter last year. To figure out this year, everything you read sounds like a politician straddling a lot of fences to win the majority of votes to get elected. Predicting weather, long term it is harder than what could happen a hour from now when you live in Maine. Like pollsters who get it all wrong, weather predicting is a lot of promises but many asterisk conditions attached to all the what’s ahead for winter snow.

Maine Ice Forming Slowly On The Lakes Now, Next Winter Snow Arrives From Up Above To White Wash The Landscape.

Weather experts says warmer temperatures in the waters around the Equator if coupled with some polar blasts can mean an early start to winter.

Lots I read predict early snow, the beginning and the ends look like a typical Maine winter but the middle could be warmer and stalled. What the Farmer’s Almanac says studying solar cycles, lots of old fashioned tried and tested weather predicting shaping methods. I figure if you love the outdoors, whatever snow loads hit the slopes naturally will be groomed and shaped and the Maine ski trails will get lots of use. Locals have it made, those traveling from many states away may be lighter this winter ski season.

Everything Goes White When Winter Weather Arrives In Maine. Snow Means Time To Play Once The Plowing And Shoveling It Are Done.

Sugarloaf Mountain USA is set to open for the 7oth snow ski season.

The Loaf’s Kingfield Carrabassett Valley website says the 1000 acres surrounding the base lodge is ideal for social distancing. The making snow testing began back in October, the ski show must go on. Think snow. Face coverings, ski masks go hand in hand with strapping on the boards and helmet anyway.

Staying warm, not just being pandemic responsible makes the covering up win win. Study of the Sugarloaf mountain ski map shows social distancing is not hard. Less people and more mountain to hog has always been the attraction to Maine ski area.

Parked, Refreshing, Taking A Break From The Maine Ski Slopes. It’s A Hard Life.

Sunday River Ski Resort in Newry Maine is excited about snow flakes too.

Like ones for the road, when you are flying, mountain ski trail maps create fire in your belly. Snowboarding, down hill or cross country skiing are part of a Maine winter tradition. Nordic skiing, snowshoeing feeling like it’s pretty much just you and old man Mountain.

Sunday River may not be as tall as Sugarloaf when you push the two back to back and measure.

But Sunday River has eight peaks and is spread out a bit more. Each Maine mountain offers a different skiing experience and no two exactly the same character.

Winter weather in Maine gets a bad rap and most of that negative press is circulated by folks who never pushed down hard to attach a pair of snow skis. Maine winters with new fallen snow and groomed trails help a body and the local economy get a thorough workout routine.

The blanket of pure white flakes assembled one by one overnight transforms the Maine you remembers from the night before putting your head in the bed.

Hockey players call it ice in their veins. The love of downhill mountain skiing must cause hard packed or loose and fluffy arterial snow conditions. Like any Maine outdoor setting added to the yearly tradition to revisit it.

Growing love and deep attachment is the result of time invested outdoors in Maine.

Dressed properly for the occasion and changing it up as the seasons flip through the calendar. Many families adopt a Maine ski area mountain and feel very protective. Like new rescue cats, horses and dogs owners, you become highly protective of them.

Read more on what’s happening at Saddleback Mountain thanks to one big anonymous donor.

He or she believed kids need to spend less time in front of a screen and out on the mountain slopes. To shake off that sedentary life style that is so so not Maine. The funding for the next five years to assure that happens is a major shot in the arm for the sport of snow skiing. The new and improved Saddleback Mountain plans for a December 15th winter ski season opening.

Lift upgrades, new snow making equipment, lodge renovations, fair ticket pricing is what’s happening behind the scenes at Saddleback Mountain.

Saddleback Mountain has the highest base elevation, over 4100′ complemented with views of Rangley Lake. Perched up high base operations translates to more natural snow outside the lodge window. Free from the sky to groom and ski. Instead of the kind created with lots of pressure squeezed out of the end of a snow gun nozzle.

Battling A Maine Winter Is Easier When Prepared. When You Have A Few Under Your Belt. Mainers Don’t Hibernate Or Waste The Snow Flakes, The Fresh Air.

No snow show winters in Maine, those often are the coldest and rob the down hill skiing experience.

The expensive snow making production pumping water up hill and moving guns spot to spot around the Maine ski mountain trails. Hoping the air temperatures stay freezing or below to create and keep a base. Man made snow making hurts the Maine ski mountain’s bottom line expense profit and loss. Artificial snow requiring man power and machinery hard at it round the clock to create it bleeds a ski resort’s cash reserves.

Don’t forget snowmobiling, ice fishing, pond hockey and it’s not just swish swish down hill skiing during a Maine winter.

The smaller mountain peaks mean less coin needed to ride the lifts and ski down the trails. But these smaller Maine ski areas rely heavier on what Mother Nature and Jack Frost bring to the winter snow party.

Here’s a list of Maine ski areas.

With the COVID19, the pandemic makes spread out on the trails under a cobalt blue sunny ski or listening to tunes while under light night skiing. Maine ski areas are ready and the healthy shot in the arm cure for being stuck in side dying to get out for some fresh air and panoramic scenery. The kind you can only get on top of a Maine snow capped mountain as you develop that thousand mile stare and crank your head slowly. Maine has last count twenty developed peaks areas, seventy lifts to service those mountainside ski areas.

Playing In The Snow, Kids Get Outside Bundled Up To Slide, Build Forts, Make Snow Balls For Friendly Backyard Neighborhood Battles.

Like your favorite local diner, the community movie theatre, adopting to preserve and help Maine businesses and non profits survive is happening.

Maine ski areas are on the same critical care list and every local citizen feels highly charged and committed to preserving our unique way of life. Maine is the way life should be. The coronavirus just drove the point home deeper for those ripping up stakes and packing up their tent in search of a better quality of life.

By George It’s Going To Snow. Maine Winter Weather Means Snow For Skiing, Sledding, Ice Hockey And Fishing Outdoor Fun.

Maine is an easier place to live for lots of reasons and less people, more connection small local populations is part of it. Maine’s drop dead gorgeous natural beauty and unspoiled vastness are the perfect combination no matter what’s going on good or bad in the World. Run away to Maine. Ski Maine mountains in winter, hike them the other seasons. Get up high where the air is rare and less people interfere with the thought processing.

From the days of trudging up every foot of hillside you skied or slide down, from the days of tractor powered rope tows on small Whoville like terrains. Maine skiing has come a long way and is still going strong.

Maine skiing. It’s good for your body, your mind, your local economy. Support your local Maine ski mountain nearest you. Pull out the calendar and plan this winter to sample more than one Maine ski area.

To me, the most fun of Maine winter skiing is introducing your kids to the snow capped trails.

Saturday mornings on a local hill with other kids filling their lungs with fresh winter mountain air sure beats sitting on a couch plugged into the tube. Beside exercise and getting families out of the stale air of a Maine home, that elevation opens up the magic of Maine. Maine is already drop dead gorgeous with her four season natural beauty. But add a chair lift or t-bar ride higher up a peak and everything intensifies. It is spiritual, the ride alone or in conversation with one or more of your children is mental health rich.

Skiing a Maine mountain like work or hobby pastime that calls you outside increases awareness of the World around you.

The day to day routine is shaken up getting your blood pumping and collecting all the eye candy. It’s like the song “Up On The Roof”. In the city hustle bustle and all the noise distractions, all the people around you, the only place to escape it is going up (ding ding elevator door opening sound) .

Skiing Together, All Ages In The Maine Family Can Take To The Slopes.

Your worries are parked as you ride up or glide down a blanket of Maine winter snow.

The guy or gal in the helmet and ski goggles dangles the boards lifted up the mountain side and absorbs or blends in with the Maine outdoors. You feel grateful, excited, humbled, pretty dam lucky to be in Maine and tapping into one more winter tradition.

The sunrise or sudden snow fall and wind picking up and being out in the weather elements. Wearing the right ski gear clothing and layered for comfort as you can see your breath. But no black flies today. Relishing arriving mountain top and taking in the expense as you lift the chairlift bar and scooch to the front edge of the cushion.

End Of A Perfect Day After Skiing On A Maine Mountain.

Skiing a Maine mountain.

Preparing to touch down, go left, right or down the middle of the end of the line ride. Sliding on the ski pole straps for each arm and preparing for another trip to the mountain base. Some looking for double black diamond adventure, others taking the longer leisure route of a buckboard gradual ski trail. Skiing Maine mountains is different strokes for different folks. There is something for every budget and all types of Maine winter skier abilities to discover.

Families can connect the green, blue, black Maine ski trail difficulty marking dot colors.

Small Maine Ski Areas! Those Are The Best Because You Work Behind The Scenes, Everything Is Cheaper.

All ages can tap into the Maine ski mountain fun. You can ski for life in Maine. The alpine ski tradition kept alive because of the names on the towns on a Maine map. New Sweden, Solon, Norway, Caribou, Stockholm all sounding Scandinavian but located in Vacationland with residents Nordic names like Sjostead, Andersen, Bonderson.

Maine winter.

Ski1ng Maine mountains. You don’t just survive a Maine winter and the locals embrace this back end, new beginning section of the calendar pages. Ski swaps to match growing kids with better fitting equipment. Christmas presents for something ski themed from warm gloves to a new snowboard or winter jacket. Maybe an LL Bean ski boot bag or t-handle to make the to and from to your favorite Maine mountain easier. Early bird season Maine mountain ski passes showing up in a Christmas stocking help the spirit of the holidays too.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com | MOOERS REALTY 69 North ST Houlton ME 04730 USA

November 4, 2020
Maine Winters, The Shoveling And Snow Plowing Under Control

Maine winter weather shoveling, snow plowing means watch and prepare for what’s in the forecast.

Except the open winters where a drought of the white stuff happens. For those in the blog post audience with no Maine winter experience, the wrong conclusion. It is easy to think no snow, warmer temperatures right?

Horses Waiting For Grain, An Apple Or Carrot. Winter Winds Down Slowly In Maine.

Don’t the two go hand in hand?

No snow can mean little precipitation combined with low frigid temperatures.

Your open, snow-less winters are the coldest and the outdoor recreation takes a hit. Less snow plowing and shoveling work outs.

But hard to down hill or cross country ski without the snow flakes piling up on the open ground. Good luck snow sledding without a blanket of white to lubricate the track slides and to steer with the carbide ski runners.

Snow is a house insulator believe it or not.

Those snow banks up against your Maine home foundation help protect it from the wind. Open winters with no snow means certain recreation increases. Ice fishing if temperatures stay at or below the freezing mark long enough keeps things chill. The winters with pretty much zip or too little snow make the other Maine outdoor sports kick it up a notch. Often we have the snow. Then lose it all due to an early spring thaw like weather pattern. Warm temperatures turn snow like Frosty to water that runs into the lakes, rivers, streams.

More bonfires, hot chocolate and spirited Maine ice skating pond hockey games in Maine open winters.

Ice fishing derbies to drilled the hole to open up the lake below angling. The ice arenas around that state

Hang On, Celebrate Winter in Maine. That’s What Moosestompers Is All About.

of Maine get higher hockey game attendance if the team is winning more than they are tying or losing games chasing the black circle.

In my small hometown of Houlton Maine, the first weekend in February is always Moose Stompers Weekend.

Waiting For Ice, For The Snow After That Signalling Maine Winter Has Arrived.

A celebration of winter started up at Loring Air Force Base in Limestone and re-ignited by town manager at the time Alan Bean.

Bean was the Loring air base colonel who mothballed the B-52 facility and applied the locks on the chain link perimeter fencing.

When how to handle and hopefully deter a nuclear war strategy changed. As the new weaponry came along and a change in the political winds happened. That suddenly reduced Northern Maine’s population roughly ten thousand service men and women calling Limestone, Caswell, Connor Plantation and other surrounding Aroostook County towns their home sweet home.

Moosestompers Weekend, January 31st through February 2nd 2020.

This one the 24th installment in my home town of Houlton Maine. I’ve worn the moose outfit that makes you slow, blind and hot. But climbing up the sliding hill and watching the snowmobile and horse drawn sleigh rides is family fun. We don’t hibernate and get out to celebrate Maine winter’s magic.

Watch a Moosestompers Maine Winter Celebration video.

But back to winter weather and how those not living in Maine wonder how and why do we do it.

When you wake up and overnight a new fresh fluffy layer of snow surrounds your yard and accumulates on your porches and in your drive and walk ways. We don’t feel marooned or stranded. We are prepared for winter, have experience removing it and driving on the plowed and sanded roadways. Put on the winter coat, zip it up high and grab your mittens and snow boots. Like everyone else in the neighborhood, the operation to clear the yard of snow begins in earnest. Watch a snow storm video that shows the process of how we in Maine deal with a storm.

Snow shoveling is a great work out employing upper and lower back especially.

Plus your abs, quads, shoulders and other muscles get to take part in the snow shoveling. White fluffy snow is balanced on the shovel load after load. The older, higher water content settling snow can be sliced into with the end of the shovel.

Maine Moose Tip Toeing Across Lake Ice. Hope Nothing Starts Cracking Under Those 4 Hooves.

Carving out the chunk you want to release from the snow bank. The one you can handle size wise and balance as you slide under and carry or toss it to where it needs to go. Easy on too heavy and lifting / twisting to avoid injury. Like lifting, the right way using your legs. Do the same with the shovel loads of snow when it is time to heave ho and here we go.

Snow in Maine, shoveling it is a great aerobic exercise.

Maybe more than you like with back to back snow storms but the satisfaction of a cleared walk and driveway couples with the calorie burns. How many calories does shoveling snow really chew up? Experts calculate 200 calories every 30 minutes is what snow shoveling causes inside your system.

Like most things in life, slow and steady is the pace to set shoveling snow.

Have the right length and size shovel matched to the operator. The kids pitch in and their smaller shovel size loads still add up as a family attacks and rearranges where the new snow goes. Snow scoops that slide and push under larger deep sections of snow are effective on driveways and hauled up ladders for long flat commercial roofs. A small storm of a couple inches or less can be handled easily with a snow scoop taking systematic runs. You will sleep better tonight with all that inhaled fresh Maine air. Trust me.

Singing Or Howlin’ Together. The Sound In Winter The Animals Make When Cornered. Heavy Snow Load Affect The Maine Wildlife.

Even the family dog plays in the new snow and the banks packed into place by the snow blowers and plows becomes the backyard fort. The snow tunnel dug out with shovel, hands and feet for the kid’s new play room.

Outdoor fresh air in Maine.

That will improve the appetite. No matter what age, everyone gets a healthy dose clearing the new snow and playing with it in it a variety of ways.

Pick up trucks marauding the small Maine in town streets, back road ways with blinking and revolving orange roof lights.

Their yellow, red and stainless steel snow plow blades angled and ready to drop and push the banks. The beep beep of backing up pay loaders and larger commercial truck mount snow blowers working their magic. Moving the snow out of the driveway and pushing it to the back of the in-town lot or well away from your country home and out buildings.

The big bucket machinery brought in at ninety dollars and up an hour to make short work of relocating large snow banks that become rock solid and more than an F150 can handle.

The industrial snow blowers and trucks with big wings cut through the heaviest of snow loads with ease. The snow plowing video above illustrates what a small Maine town looks like during and after a storm. How quickly it digs out and resumes to business as usual with a systematic snow removal attitude.

Slowly Fixed And The Land Worked To Feed The Family. Welcome To Maine!

Snow plowing with old worn out pick ups create a constant source of mechanical breakdowns when you need them the most. Snow plowing is hard on truck universal joints, electrical systems and all that picking up speed to ram and clear to push to make the banks.

If you are looking for an excuse to buy a new four wheel drive pickup with the plow and all the bells and whistles. Go for it.

Knock yourself out and convince the wife you need one. But every Tom, Dick and Harry in Maine has a plow or a cousin with one. For what it costs to plow out a driveway in my area, hire it done can make the more economic sense. But some love snow plowing. My Dad did.

His Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Count Basie or Glenn Miller cassette tape adding a music beat lowering the plow and pushing the Maine snow.

Your Little Brown Jug, In The Mood, etc with brass horns, clarinets and World War Two era dance music filling the pick up cab. As the 1999 Dodge four wheel drive pickup with now just turned 13,000 miles on the odometer continuing the snow plowing tradition around our Maine family farm property.

Snow plowing in Maine, those who have never done it think we are crazy.

Playful And In And Out Of The Long Open Winter Cold Lake Water. Otters Entertain!

But we live in a Northern tier state not unlike Michigan, New York, Wisconsin and the others along the Canadian border. Just like many of us are slaves to very big and long grassed lawns kept manicure with once or twice a week mowing rituals.

Snow plowing is in our blood and in Maine there are places like New Sweden, Stockholm, Denmark Maine with folks from those area of the World where snow is common place.

Don’t stay away and sample Maine in winter.

Come on up! Because the white snow makes all the difference in your Vacationland experience. Maine winter, we know how to handle the snow and it is a big part of our recreation and lifestyle.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker

207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |

MOOERS REALTY 69 North ST Houlton ME 04730 USA

January 21, 2020