Climatological Report (Annual)
Issued by NWS Portland, ME

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000
CXUS51 KGYX 031900
CLAGYX

GRAY CLIMATE DATA FOR THE YEAR 2012
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAY ME
200 PM EST THU JAN 3 2013

HERE ARE SOME OF THE CLIMATOLOGICAL STATISTICS FOR THE PAST YEAR
AT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE IN GRAY MAINE...

IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT GRAY MAINE HAS A LIMITED HISTORICAL
RECORD SINCE RECORDS BEGAN JUST 18 YEARS AGO IN OCTOBER OF 1995.

TEMPERATURE DATA       YEAR 2012        NORMAL          DEPARTURE

AVG. MONTHLY             48.2           46.4             PLUS 1.8
AVG. MAXIMUM             56.8           55.4             PLUS 1.4
AVG. MINIMUM             39.5           37.3             PLUS 2.2

NUMBER OF DAYS:        YEAR 2012        NORMAL

MAXIMUM 90 OR ABOVE        2              3.8           MINUS 1.8
MAXIMUM 32 OR BELOW       36             49.9           MINUS 13.9
MINIMUM 32 OR BELOW      139            143.1           MINUS 4.1
MINIMUM 0 OR BELOW         2              6.9           MINUS 4.9

HIGHEST TEMPERATURE... 93 ON JUNE 20TH
LOWEST TEMPERATURE...  MINUS 3 ON JANUARY 15TH
COLDEST HIGH...        10 ON JANUARY 15TH
WARMEST LOW....        69 ON JULY 14TH

WARMEST DAY... JULY 14TH WITH AN AVERAGE OF 79 DEGREES
COLDEST DAY... JANUARY 15TH WITH AN AVERAGE OF 4 DEGREES

                        YEAR 2012       NORMAL          DEPARTURE

HEATING DEGREE DAYS      6533           7191            MINUS 658
COOLING DEGREE DAYS       491            390             PLUS 101

HEATING AND COOLING DEGREE DAYS LISTED ARE FOR THE CALENDAR YEAR.
THE HEATING DEGREE DAY SEASON NORMALLY RUNS FROM JULY 1ST THROUGH
JUNE 30TH...WHILE THE COOLING DEGREE SEASON NORMALLY RUNS FROM
JANUARY 1ST THROUGH DECEMBER 31ST.

PRECIPITATION           53.56           50.22            PLUS 3.34
SNOWFALL                 64.7            83.8           MINUS 19.1

GREATEST PRECIPITATION IN 24 HOURS... 5.45 INCHES ON JUNE 2ND & 3RD
GREATEST SNOWFALL IN 24 HOURS...      9.0 INCHES ON DECEMBER 27TH
GREATEST SNOW DEPTH ON GROUND...      11 INCHES ON JANUARY 20TH &
                                             22ND & DECEMBER 30TH

THE FOLLOWING DATA IS FOR A CALENDAR DAY /MIDNIGHT TO MIDNIGHT/...

NUMBER OF DAYS WITH PRECIPITATION OF        NORMAL      DEPARTURE
 .01 INCH OR MORE              154          139.0        PLUS 15
 .10 INCH OR MORE               83           85.8       MINUS 2.8
 .50 INCH OR MORE               37           33.6        PLUS 3.4
1.00 INCH OR MORE               13           14.2       MINUS 1.2

NUMBER OF DAYS WITH SNOWFALL OF             NORMAL      DEPARTURE
1 WHOLE INCH OR MORE            19           19.8       MINUS 0.8
3 WHOLE INCHES OR MORE           6
6 WHOLE INCHES OR MORE           4

...GRAY MAINE 2012 MONTHLY TEMPERATURE DATA...
(RANK: 1ST = WARMEST, JAN - SEP: 17TH = COLDEST
                      OCT - DEC: 18TH = COLDEST)

                                        DEPARTURE
MONTH   AVG HIGH   AVG LOW   MEAN TEMP  FROM NORMAL  RANK
JAN     31.6       16.7      24.2        PLUS 3.2    6TH
FEB     37.1       19.8      28.5        PLUS 3.8    5TH
MAR     50.1       30.5      40.3        PLUS 7.4    1ST
APR     57.1       35.9     46.5        PLUS 2.2    4TH
MAY     65.3       48.4      56.9        PLUS 2.0    4TH
JUN     71.4       54.3      62.9       MINUS 1.2    12TH (TIED)
JUL     81.3       61.6      71.5        PLUS 2.1    5TH
AUG     79.5       61.5      70.5        PLUS 1.9    3RD
SEP     68.1       50.4      59.3       MINUS 1.1    15TH
OCT     59.8       44.1      52.0        PLUS 2.9    3RD
NOV     44.2       28.6      36.4       MINUS 2.1    13TH
DEC     36.0       22.7      29.4        PLUS 2.1    7TH

YEAR    56.8       39.5      48.2        PLUS 1.8    4TH

...GRAY MAINE 2012 MONTHLY PRECIPITATION DATA...
(RANK: 1 = WETTEST, JAN THROUGH SEP: 17TH = LEAST DRIEST
                    OCT THROUGH DEC: 18TH = LEAST DRIEST)

MONTH   PRECIPITATION   DEPARTURE
                        FROM NORMAL     RANK
JAN     3.82             PLUS 0.29      7TH
FEB     1.24            MINUS 2.07      17TH
MAR     2.04            MINUS 2.13      15TH
APR     5.16             PLUS 0.78      8TH
MAY     5.24             PLUS 1.34      4TH
JUN    11.07             PLUS 6.77      1ST
JUL     2.52            MINUS 1.78      14TH
AUG     5.93             PLUS 2.34      4TH
SEP     3.86            MINUS 0.33      10TH
OCT     4.68            MINUS 0.46      11TH
NOV     1.31            MINUS 4.04      18TH
DEC     6.69             PLUS 2.63      3RD

YEAR   53.56             PLUS 3.34      8TH

...GRAY MAINE 2012 MONTHLY SNOWFALL DATA...
(RANK: 1 = SNOWIEST, JAN THROUGH SEP: 17TH = LEAST SNOWIEST
                     OCT THROUGH DEC: 18TH = LEAST SNOWIEST)

                    DEPARTURE
MONTH   SNOWFALL    FROM NORMAL      RANK
JAN     22.4         PLUS 1.2        9TH (TIED)
FEB      5.3        MINUS 11.2       15TH
MAR     12.8        MINUS 7.1        12TH
APR      0.2        MINUS 4.6        13TH
MAY      0.0        NORMAL           2ND (TIED)
JUN      0.0        NORMAL           -----
JUL      0.0        NORMAL           -----
AUG      0.0        NORMAL           -----
SEP      0.0        NORMAL           -----
OCT    TRACE        MINUS 0.1        3RD (TIED)
NOV      2.6        MINUS 0.4        6TH
DEC     21.4        PLUS 3.1         7TH

YEAR    64.7        MINUS 19.1       -----

NOTE:  SNOWFALL FOR THE YEAR IS GIVEN FOR THE CALENDAR YEAR.
NORMALLY SNOWFALL TOTALS ARE GIVEN FOR THE SEASON, FROM
JULY 1ST THROUGH JUNE 30TH.

EVEN THOUGH RECORDS IN GRAY, MAINE BEGAN IN OCTOBER OF 1995,
THIRTY YEAR NORMALS FOR THE PERIOD 1981 THROUGH 2010 WERE
DEVELOPED AND HAVE BEEN PUT INTO USE FOR THE OBSERVATION
SITE AT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE.

DISCUSSION...

THE WEATHER IN GRAY MAINE IN 2012 WAS WARMER AND WETTER
THAN NORMAL.

THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR 2012 WAS 48.2 DEGREES. THIS WAS
1.8 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL...BUT FELL SHORT OF BEING THE
WARMEST YEAR ON RECORD. THE YEAR 2010 STILL STANDS AS THE
WARMEST ON RECORD WITH AN AVERAGE OF 48.9 DEGREES. THIS PAST
YEAR WAS THE 4TH WARMEST IN THE PAST 17 YEARS OF ANNUAL
WEATHER RECORDS IN GRAY.

GRAY MAINE HAD THE WARMEST MARCH ON RECORD IN 2012 WITH AN
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 40.3 DEGREES WHICH WAS 7.4 DEGREES
ABOVE NORMAL. THE OLD RECORD FOR THE WARMEST MARCH WAS 40.1
DEGREES SET IN 2010.

IN FACT, NINE OUT OF 12 MONTHS WERE WARMER THAN NORMAL. THE
ONLY MONTHS TO AVERAGE BELOW NORMAL IN 2012 WERE JUNE,
SEPTEMBER AND NOVEMBER.

TEMPERATURES IN GRAY IN 2012 RANGED FROM 3 BELOW ZERO ON
JANUARY 15TH TO 93 DEGREES ON JUNE 20TH. FOR THE YEAR
GRAY HAD JUST TWO DAYS WITH HIGHS OF 90 OR WARMER AND
JUST TWO DAYS WITH LOWS OF ZERO OR COLDER.

GRAY HAD A TOTAL OF 53.56 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION IN 2012.
THIS WAS 3.34 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL AND WAS THE 8TH WETTEST
IN 17 YEARS.

THE WETTEST MONTH LAST YEAR WAS JUNE WITH OVER 11 INCHES OF
RAIN. THIS WAS ALSO THE WETTEST JUNE ON RECORD IN GRAY. THE
11.07 INCHES OF RAIN TOPPED THE OLD RECORD OF 10.98 INCHES
SET IN JUNE OF 1998 AND WAS 6.77 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL. ALSO
JUNE 2012 WAS THE 4TH WETTEST MONTH EVER IN GRAY AND ONE OF
ONLY EIGHT MONTHS TO EVER RECORD TEN OR MORE INCHES OF
PRECIPITATION IN GRAY.

HERE IS A LIST OF THE WETTEST MONTHS IN GRAY, MAINE.

RANK    PRECIPITATION     MONTH/YEAR
 1      16.33 INCHES      OCTOBER 2005
 2      12.55 INCHES      SEPTEMBER 2008
 3      12.41 INCHES      SEPTEMBER 1999
 4      11.07 INCHES      JUNE 2012         <===
 5      10.98 INCHES      JUNE 1998
 6      10.90 INCHES      OCTOBER 1998
 7      10.62 INCHES      APRIL 2005
 8      10.34 INCHES      JUNE 2006
 9       9.90 INCHES      OCTOBER 2006
10       9.64 INCHES      OCTOBER 1996

FOR THE YEAR GRAY HAD SEVEN MONTHS WITH ABOVE NORMAL
PRECIPITATION. DECEMBER, WITH 6.69 INCHES, WAS THE SECOND
WETTEST MONTH OF 2012.

GRAY HAD FIVE MONTHS IN 2012 WITH BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION.
MOST NOTABLE WAS THE DRIEST NOVEMBER ON RECORD WITH JUST 1.31
INCHES OF PRECIPITATION. THIS WAS 4.04 INCHES BELOW NORMAL.
THE OLD RECORD FOR THE DRIEST NOVEMBER IN GRAY WAS 2.10 INCHES
SET IN 1996.

THE GREATEST 24 HOUR PRECIPITATION IN 2012 WAS OVER FIVE
INCHES (5.45 INCHES) OF RAIN ON JUNE 2ND AND 3RD. THIS WAS
PART OF A FOUR DAY STORM TOTAL THAT DUMPED 6.75 INCHES OF RAIN
ON GRAY AND CAUSED FLOODING ACROSS THE REGION. OTHER VERY
HEAVY 24 HOUR PRECIPITATION EVENTS INCLUDED FOUR INCHES
(4.01 INCHES) ON APRIL 22ND AND 23RD AND EXACTLY TWO AND A
HALF INCHES OF RAIN ON AUGUST 16TH.

GRAY HAD BELOW NORMAL SNOWFALL WITH JUST 64.7 INCHES OF SNOW
FOR THE YEAR. THIS WAS 19.1 INCHES BELOW NORMAL.

THE SNOWIEST MONTH WAS JANUARY WITH 22.4 INCHES FOLLOWED BY
DECEMBER WITH 21.4 INCHES. THESE WERE THE ONLY TWO MONTHS
WITH ABOVE NORMAL SNOWFALL. FEBRUARY, MARCH, APRIL, OCTOBER
AND NOVEMBER ALL HAD BELOW NORMAL SNOWFALL.

THE BIGGEST SNOWSTORM IN 2012 WAS 9.0 INCHES ON DECEMBER 27TH.
OTHER NOTABLE SNOWSTORMS INCLUDED 7.4 INCHES ON JANUARY 19TH
AND 20TH AND 6.9 INCHES ON MARCH 1ST.

$$

SJC






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