Climatological Report (Monthly)
Issued by NWS Caribou, ME
Issued by NWS Caribou, ME
126 CXUS51 KCAR 022158 CLMCAR CLIMATE REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CARIBOU ME 511 PM EDT SUN JUN 02 2024 ................................... ...THE CARIBOU ME CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF MAY 2024... CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD: 1991 TO 2020 CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD: 1939 TO 2024 WEATHER OBSERVED NORMAL DEPART LAST YEAR`S VALUE DATE(S) VALUE FROM VALUE DATE(S) NORMAL ................................................................ TEMPERATURE (F) RECORD HIGH 96 05/22/1977 LOW 18 05/02/1974 HIGHEST 84 05/22 MM MM 91 05/31 LOWEST 31 05/10 MM MM 32 05/18 05/22 05/23 AVG. MAXIMUM 67.6 63.0 4.6 64.1 AVG. MINIMUM 45.3 41.4 3.9 39.4 MEAN 56.4 52.2 4.2 51.7 DAYS MAX >= 90 0 0.2 -0.2 1 DAYS MAX <= 32 0 0.0 0.0 0 DAYS MIN <= 32 1 3.7 -2.7 3 DAYS MIN <= 0 0 0.0 0.0 0 PRECIPITATION (INCHES) RECORD MAXIMUM 6.27 1947 MINIMUM 0.47 1982 TOTALS 2.71 -0.75 DAILY AVG. 0.09 0.11 -0.02 0.09 DAYS >= .01 11 14.7 -3.7 10 DAYS >= .10 6 8.7 -2.7 5 DAYS >= .50 3 2.1 0.9 2 DAYS >= 1.00 0 0.3 -0.3 0 GREATEST 24 HR. TOTAL 0.91 05/28 TO 05/28 1.20 05/24 TO 05/25 SNOWFALL (INCHES) RECORDS TOTAL 10.9 1967 TOTALS 0.0 0.8 -0.8 T SINCE 7/1 88.2 118.2 -30.0 MM SNOWDEPTH AVG. 0 0 DAYS >= 1.0 0 0.2 -0.2 0 GREATEST SNOW DEPTH 0 0 MM 24 HR TOTAL MM MM DEGREE DAYS HEATING TOTAL 274 403 -129 413 SINCE 7/1 7644 8901 -1257 MM COOLING TOTAL 16 6 10 11 SINCE 1/1 16 6 10 MM ................................................................ WIND (MPH) AVERAGE WIND SPEED 6.3 HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 26/250 DATE 05/23 HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 44/240 DATE 05/23 SKY COVER POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT) MM AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.50 NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR 9 NUMBER OF DAYS PC 15 NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY 7 AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 65 WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH THUNDERSTORM 1 MIXED PRECIP 0 HEAVY RAIN 3 RAIN 4 LIGHT RAIN 13 FREEZING RAIN 0 LT FREEZING RAIN 0 HAIL 0 HEAVY SNOW 0 SNOW 0 LIGHT SNOW 0 SLEET 0 FOG 9 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 1 HAZE 0 - INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS. * INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED. MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING. T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT. --------------------------------------------------------------------- ...MAY 2024 CLIMATE NARRATIVE FOR NORTHERN/EASTERN MAINE... MAY 2024 FINISHED WITH WELL ABOVE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES. PRECIPITATION WAS MORE VARIABLE AND IN GENERAL WAS BELOW AVERAGE NORTH AND NEAR AVERAGE TO SLIGHTLY ABOVE AVERAGE SOUTH. TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE REGION RANGED FROM 2.5 TO 4.5 DEGREES (F) ABOVE THE 30-YEAR 1991-2020 NORMALS. IN CARIBOU IT TIED WITH 2001 AS THE 4TH WARMEST MAY ON RECORD. BOTH HOULTON AND MILLINOCKET OBSERVED THEIR 7TH WARMEST MAY ON RECORD, AND IN BANGOR IT TIED WITH 2015 FOR THE 12TH WARMEST MAY ON RECORD. TEMPERATURES WERE A BIT BELOW AVERAGE FROM THE 8TH THROUGH THE 12TH AND AGAIN THE LAST FEW DAYS OF THE MONTH, OTHERWISE TEMPERATURES WERE CONSISTENTLY ABOVE AVERAGE. THE LAST WIDESPREAD FROST OCCURRED BETWEEN THE 10TH AND 12TH OF THE MONTH, HOWEVER, NORTHERN VALLEYS DID LOCALLY EXPERIENCE A LIGHT FROST IN SPOTS DURING THE LAST FEW DAYS OF THE MONTH. PRECIPITATION MOSTLY RANGED FROM 50 TO 90 PERCENT OF NORMAL, BUT IN PART OF SOUTHERN PENOBSCOT AND WESTERN HANCOCK COUNTY PRECIPITATION RANGED FROM 100 TO 130 PERCENT OF NORMAL. FOR MOST AREAS THE FIRST HALF OF THE MONTH WAS QUITE DRY WITH MORE FREQUENT SHOWERS DURING THE SECOND HALF OF THE MONTH. THE HEAVIEST RAIN EVENT OCCURRED ON THE 28TH WHEN PARTS OF PISCATAQUIS AND SOUTHERN PENOBSCOT COUNTIES OBSERVED FROM 1.5 TO 2.25 INCHES OF RAIN. 4.05 INCHES OF EVAPORATION WAS OBSERVED DURING THE MONTH IN CARIBOU WITH A TOTAL OF 2.71 INCHES OF RAIN. THIS CAUSED THE SOILS TO DRY OUT SOME BY THE END OF THE MONTH, BUT DUE TO A SOAKING RAIN IN THE 28TH THERE WERE NO DROUGHT CONDITIONS OBSERVED. THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR DID INDICATE UNUSUALLY DRY CONDITIONS IN NORTHWEST AROOSTOOK COUNTY, AND IN FAR NORTHERN SECTIONS OF BOTH SOMERSET AND PISCATAQUIS COUNTIES BY THE END OF THE MONTH. THE FIRST SEVERE WEATHER OF THE SEASON WAS OBSERVED ON THE 23RD WHEN THUNDERSTORMS CAUSED TREES TO BE KNOCKED DOWN IN PARTS OF AROOSTOOK AND PENOBSCOT COUNTIES. GREEN-UP THIS YEAR AT CARIBOU WAS OBSERVED ON MAY 5TH, WHICH WAS A FEW DAYS EARLIER THAN AVERAGE. A VERY STRONG GEOMAGNETIC STORM MADE VIVID AURORAS VISIBLE IN MANY AREAS ON THE NIGHTS OF MAY 10TH THROUGH THE 12TH. THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER`S FORECAST FOR JUNE 2024 INDICATES THAT THE ODDS ARE SLIGHTLY TILTED TOWARD ABOVE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES AND ABOVE AVERAGE PRECIPITATION. AT THE START OF THE MONTH OF JUNE, AVERAGE HIGHS RANGE FROM THE UPPER 60S IN THE NORTH TO LOW 70S NEAR BANGOR. AVERAGE LOWS RANGE FROM THE MID 40S IN THE NORTH TO UPPER 40S AT THE COAST. BY THE END OF THE MONTH, AVERAGE HIGHS RISE TO THE MID TO UPPER 70S FOR MOST OF THE AREA, BUT A BIT COOLER ALONG THE COAST. ON AVERAGE, 3.5 TO 4 INCHES OF RAIN IS OBSERVED ACROSS THE AREA DURING THE MONTH OF JUNE. THUNDERSTORMS BECOMING AN INCREASING THREAT DURING THE MONTH AND JUNE ON AVERAGE PRODUCES THE 2ND HIGHEST REPORTS OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS BEHIND ONLY JULY. THE OCCURRENCE OF COASTAL FOG INCREASES DURING THE MONTH OF JUNE. THE SUMMER SOLSTICE THIS YEAR WILL OCCUR AT JUNE 20TH AT 4:50 PM EDT. THE EARLIEST SUNRISES OF THE YEAR OCCUR AROUND THE MIDDLE OF THE MONTH, AND THE LATEST SUNSETS DURING THE MID TO LATE MONTH PERIOD. $$ CB/VJN/NC