BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 1, 2026
In the long, dark months that bridged 2023 and 2024, Aroostook County saw its worst winter in decades. On paper, this winter was worse. Two fewer inches of snow fell, and heavy December rain wiped out most of the accumulation from an early storm. Then it got cold. Really cold. The rain froze to ice and established a thick base layer for snow to accumulate on top of. And despite just two storms producing 4 or more inches of snow, the trails remained in good shape, bucking trends of recent years. Chris King has never seen a winter with such little snow be so successful for snowmobiling. “Not in my 38 years,” King, the president of the Limestone SnowHawks snowmobile club, said. But clubs have also gotten better at working with less snow. They borrow from the sides of trails and build berms in open fields and other problem areas where strong winds can carry snow away.