Geologists portray the scene of Maine as a “drowned coast”, where a rising ocean level has eroded previous land features, creating bays out of valleys and islands out of mountain peaks. Maine has a humid, sticky atmosphere, with warm (albeit for the most part not sweltering) summers. Winters are cold and produce blanketed snow beds all through the state, and are particularly serious in the Northern and Western regions of Maine. Beachfront regions of the state are directed somewhat by the Atlantic Ocean, bringing about milder winters and cooler summers. Toward the south and the east is the Atlantic Ocean and toward the north and upper east is New Brunswick, a region of Canada. The Canadian region of Quebec is toward the northwest. Maine is both the northernmost state in New England and the biggest. Precipitation in Maine is equally distributed all year, with a slight summer increase of precipitation in the northern/northwestern Maine and a slight pre-winter or late-fall increase along the coast because of “nor’easters” or cold-season downpour/snow storms. On the beachfront of Maine, the pre-summer and summer are normally the driest months which is an irregularity over the Eastern United States. Maine has, on average, the least longest periods of thunderstorms in comparison to some other state east of the Rockies, with the vast majority of the state averaging under 20 days of rain storms a year. Tornadoes are uncommon in Maine, with the state averaging less than four every year, despite the fact that this number is expanding. Most serious thunderstorms and tornadoes happen in the Sebago Lakes and Foothills district of the state.