Even before Thursday’s storm canceled schools and created treacherous driving conditions, a deep bed of snow had settled across most of Maine.

Snow piled on the edges of streets and sidewalks. Snow on backyards and roofs. Snow on mountains, trails and sledding hills.

Temperatures have mostly stayed below freezing as well, sometimes far below.

After three years of milder, less snowy winters, the last couple of weeks (and the weeks ahead) are offering residents and visitors a taste of something that has become rare, especially in southern and coastal stretches of Maine: an old-fashioned winter.

Al Swett, president of the 14,000-member Maine Snowmobile Association, could hardly contain his excitement this week

“The best thing about it is there’s snow all across the state. You don’t even have to drive to Aroostook County,” he said. “And we’re heading into a school vacation week, so let it snow some more!”

The long-term climate outlook for Maine hasn’t changed. Warming temperatures mean the duration of winter will continue to shorten and some precipitation that would have been fluffy snow in years past will be rain.

But conditions will still exist for extended stretches of traditional snow-and-cold. As much as 8-10 more inches of snow are expected to fall on southern and central Maine on Sunday.

Those whose fortunes are tied to the winter outdoor economy said people should take advantage when they can.

Jeff McCabe, director of the Maine Office of Outdoor Recreation, said this month has been an opportunity for people “to get out and do things we love.” He’s heard from many who have been doing just that.

“It’s great is to see enthusiasm among people who want to get outside,” said McCabe, who took his own 3-year-old downhill skiing for the first time this year. “February and March are probably the best months for outdoor activities in Maine.”

Dirk Gouwens, executive director of Ski Maine, said this winter is shaping up to see a record number of skiers.

“We had so much pent-up demand, really since (the pandemic),” he said.

Although Maine’s ski resorts have the ability to make their own snow, Gouwens said natural snow helps, too.

“If people don’t see snow in their own backyard, they just assume there must not be much in the mountains either,” he said. “But now, people are seeing the snow in their community and thinking, ‘Things must be great up north.’”

That hasn’t been the case in the last couple of years, and there is an entire economic ecosystem built around winter activities that have taken a hit.

Jonathan Rubin, director of the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center and a professor of economics at the University of Maine, said assessing the economic impact of milder winters is a complicated question.

“There are winners are losers,” he said. “Some of the traditional industries, like snowmobiling, there’s no question they are hurt. But mountain biking and some other activities that make sense in the longer shoulder seasons, there is room for growth there.”

There’s something else, he said. Just as Maine’s idyllic coastline is part of its heritage, so too are its traditional winters.

“I’m not a cultural anthropologist, but I do think the cultural losses are potentially important, if harder to quantify,” Rubin said. “A sense of place is an important aspect of who we are.”

A LOOK AT THE NUMBERS

In each of the last five years, winter snowfall in Portland has been well below the 25-year average of 66 inches. Last year’s total of 38 inches was the lowest in 15 years. And last February, less than one inch of snow fell the entire month.

Even before Thursday’s storm, Portland had nearly reached last year’s total for the season, said Michael Cempa, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray. After Sunday, southern Maine is likely to be on pace for its snowiest winter since 2017-18.

Northern Maine hasn’t seen as big a decline in precipitation. Although last year’s total in Caribou of 88 inches was the lowest in 15 years, in six of the last eight years, totals have been above the 25-year average of 120.7 inches.

Temperatures have been more seasonal, too.

The average temperature in Portland for January was 22.8 degrees. That’s 4.6 degrees colder than the average last January and 8.7 degrees colder than January 2023. Similarly, December 2024 saw the coldest temperatures since 2017, 29.5 degrees on average, a decrease of 5.7 degrees over the previous year.

That means snow is sticking around longer.

Last year, even when snow did fall, it either melted quickly or was washed away by rain.

“We’ve settled into kind of a classic winter pattern,” Cempa said this week. “There is a high-pressure ridge in upper levels of the atmosphere that delivers colder air and little storms our way. It’s what we saw a lot of up until 10 or 20 years ago but is less common now.”

Because the last four years have been mild and snow-free, especially in southern and coastal Maine, the impact has been significant.

In 2022, many annual winter festivals and carnivals were canceled in February because of a lack of snow. Pond hockey leagues and ice-fishing derbies have had to shelve their plans as well because of thin ice. Last year, organizers canceled the Can-Am Crown, a popular New England dog sledding race.

Swett, the snowmobile association president, said last year that the number of registrations had decreased from 90,000 to 60,000 in just a few years. That’s real money. He hopes that might bounce back this year.

“I think when people are thinking about vacation in Maine in the winter, they want to be sure they’re getting what they expect,” he said. “And that just hasn’t been the case lately.”

That uncertainty bled into this winter as well.

Just last month, Smiling Hill Farm in Westbrook shuttered its cross-country skiing operation. For years, the dairy farm has been grooming trails and offering rentals, but the venture was no longer profitable, co-owner Michael Knight said.

“Unfortunately, the last few years have provided either little snow … or snow that melts within a day or two,” the farm wrote in a social media post announcing the decision. “We need a consistent base of at least 6” to maintain trails.”

Had they waited another month, they might have gotten it.

The family that operates Harris Farm in Dayton, which has offered cross-country skiing for 35 years, also saw their business drop off in the more recent mild winters but kept the operation going. It’s paying off this winter.

Keith Harris said the trails were only open for skiing 12 days last winter. This year’s snow has allowed them to be open since Jan. 20, already doubling last winter’s total number of days.

Last week, the main bay of Sebago Lake was frozen for the first time in six years, just ahead of the annual ice derby this weekend.

That was a glimpse into winters of the past when thick ice covered most lakes for long stretches. Ice fishing shacks were prevalent, as were snowmobiles. It wasn’t uncommon for trucks to drive on the ice.

This year’s cold temperatures notwithstanding, Maine is not likely to see a return to that in the long term. According to the Maine Climate Council, the lakes of northern New England have been warming, on average, about 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit per decade since the 1980s.

LEANING IN TO TRADITIONAL WINTER

For now, though, winter enthusiasts are reveling in the return to old-fashioned winter.

In Belgrade, where the annual Maine Pond Hockey Classic is held annually on Snow Pond, conditions this year are an “anomaly” in the best possible way, according to tournament director Patrick Guerette.

The tournament’s volunteer crew has adapted to warmer winters with less snow and more rain in recent years, conditions that have hobbled some tournaments in years past. Temperatures up to 45 degrees last year forced teams to take off their skates and play “boot hockey” on wet, slushy snow, Guerette said.

But this year, the ice on Snow Pond and many other lakes in central Maine is some of the smoothest and thickest in recent memory, Guerette said.

“We’re at the mercy of whatever the conditions are outside, which is part of the beauty of pond hockey, but the ice is looking amazing this year,” he said. “We’ve got just over a foot and a half of clear, black, solid ice, which is absolutely perfect for building good quality ice on the lakes.”

Conditions were similar at Lake George in Skowhegan, where about a dozen ice fishing shacks dotted the 18 inches of ice on the lake’s surface Wednesday morning, still covered in about a half foot of snow ahead of the annual Somerset SnowFest slated to be held there this weekend.

The event features skijoring, ice fishing derbies, box sledding and “Ice Hole,” a game similar to cornhole invented on the lake where teams skid hockey pucks across the lake’s surface and into a small hole drilled over 30 feet away.

Jason Cooke helps maintain ice quality for Lake George Regional Park. He said ice conditions this year are actually too smooth.

“We’ve actually gotta scatter snow around the ice and let it freeze in so there’s a bit more texture for the (Ice Hole) tournament,” Cooke said, turning off his snowblower. “You don’t want it smooth, like ice hockey, you want a little texture to make it interesting.”

With school vacation week about to start, businesses hoping to capitalize are leaning in.

In a promotion from Sunday River this week: “February has been treating us so well. With new snow hitting us every other day it seems, our cheeks hurt from smiling so much. The snow just keeps coming.”

Plow businesses that were often sidelined in recent winters are working overtime to keep up and make up for losses last year. Small machine shops are inundated with snowblower repairs and maintenance.

McCabe, the state’s outdoor recreation director, said this weekend is filled with winter-themed local festivals.

“They are so important, both to the economy and as a way for communities to come together,” he said.

For the first time in several years, none has been canceled.

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