Climatological Report (Monthly)
Issued by NWS Caribou, ME
Issued by NWS Caribou, ME
243 CXUS51 KCAR 020238 CLMBGR CLIMATE REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CARIBOU ME 1038 PM EDT WED MAY 01 2024 ................................... ...THE BANGOR ME CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF APRIL 2024... CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD: 1991 TO 2020 CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD: 1925 TO 2024 WEATHER OBSERVED NORMAL DEPART LAST YEAR`S VALUE DATE(S) VALUE FROM VALUE DATE(S) NORMAL ................................................................ TEMPERATURE (F) RECORD HIGH 92 04/27/1990 LOW 4 04/01/1928 HIGHEST 66 04/08 MM MM 76 04/14 LOWEST 23 04/01 MM MM 21 04/03 04/26 AVG. MAXIMUM 54.3 53.2 1.1 55.1 AVG. MINIMUM 32.2 32.4 -0.2 33.4 MEAN 43.3 42.8 0.5 44.3 DAYS MAX >= 90 0 0.0 0.0 0 DAYS MAX <= 32 0 0.3 -0.3 0 DAYS MIN <= 32 16 16.1 -0.1 15 DAYS MIN <= 0 0 0.0 0.0 0 PRECIPITATION (INCHES) RECORD MAXIMUM 11.04 1983 MINIMUM 0.59 1999 TOTALS 2.71 -0.90 DAILY AVG. 0.09 0.12 -0.03 0.06 DAYS >= .01 10 11.6 -1.6 9 DAYS >= .10 7 7.3 -0.3 7 DAYS >= .50 2 2.1 -0.1 0 DAYS >= 1.00 0 0.7 -0.7 0 GREATEST 24 HR. TOTAL 1.01 04/11 TO 04/12 0.47 03/31 TO 04/01 SNOWFALL (INCHES) RECORDS TOTAL 24.4 2007 TOTALS 9.0 3.7 5.3 1.0 SINCE 7/1 45.5 74.6 -29.1 MM SNOWDEPTH AVG. 1 0 DAYS >= 1.0 1 1.2 -0.2 1 GREATEST SNOW DEPTH 8* 04/05 1 04/01 24 HR TOTAL MM 1.0 04/01 TO 04/01 DEGREE DAYS HEATING TOTAL 645 666 -21 615 SINCE 7/1 6312 7195 -883 MM COOLING TOTAL 0 0 0 0 SINCE 1/1 0 0 0 MM ................................................................ WIND (MPH) AVERAGE WIND SPEED 9.4 HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 31/170 DATE 04/12 31/320 04/24 HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 46/160 DATE 04/12 SKY COVER POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT) MM AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.57 NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR 7 NUMBER OF DAYS PC 14 NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY 9 AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 64 WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH THUNDERSTORM 0 MIXED PRECIP 1 HEAVY RAIN 1 RAIN 1 LIGHT RAIN 15 FREEZING RAIN 0 LT FREEZING RAIN 0 HAIL 0 HEAVY SNOW 1 SNOW 1 LIGHT SNOW 5 SLEET 1 FOG 11 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. ---------------------------------------------- APRIL 2024 FINISHED WITH ABOVE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES AND BELOW AVERAGE TO WELL BELOW AVERAGE PRECIPITATION. TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE REGION RANGED FROM 0.5 TO 2.0 DEGREES (F) ABOVE THE 30-YEAR 1991-2020 NORMALS. HOWEVER, THIS WAS NOT ENOUGH THAT ANY OF THE LONG TERM CLIMATE SITES HAD A TOP 10 WARMEST APRIL. PRECIPITATION RANGED FROM AROUND 33 PERCENT OF NORMAL IN NORTHEASTERN AROOSTOOK COUNTY TO AROUND 90 PERCENT OF NORMAL NEAR GREENVILLE. THE TOTAL RAIN (AND MELTED SNOW) FOR CARIBOU WAS 1.02 INCHES. THIS MADE APRIL 2024 THE 6TH DRIEST ON RECORD FOR CARIBOU, WHERE RECORDS DATE BACK TO 1939. AT HOULTON, 1.56 INCHES OF RAIN (AND MELTED SNOW) FELL DURING THE MONTH. THIS MADE APRIL 2024 THE 13TH DRIEST ON RECORD FOR HOULTON, WHERE RECORDS DATE BACK TO 1948. NO OTHER SITES RECORDED A TOP 15 DRIEST OR WETTEST APRIL ON RECORD. SNOWFALL WAS ABOVE NORMAL FROM THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS SOUTHWARD TO THE BANGOR REGION AND DOWNEAST. IN BANGOR, 9.0 INCHES OF SNOW FELL DURING THE MONTH, WHICH WAS 5.3 INCHES ABOVE AVERAGE. IT WAS ALSO THE 14TH HIGHEST TOTAL FOR ANY APRIL SINCE RECORDS BEGAN IN 1926. ALL OF THIS SNOW FELL DURING A LONG-DURATION EVENT ON APRIL 3RD INTO APRIL 5TH. THE MAXIMUM SNOWFALL WITH THIS STORM OCCURRED IN WESTERN PORTIONS OF HANCOCK, PENOBSCOT AND PISCATAQUIS COUNTIES WHERE 12 TO 16 INCHES OF SNOW FELL. AMOUNTS DECREASED TO THE NORTH AND EAST, TAPERING TO AROUND 1 TO 3 INCHES IN NORTHEASTERN AROOSTOOK COUNTY. AT CARIBOU, JUST 1.4 INCHES OF SNOW FELL DURING APRIL 2024. THIS WAS 6.9 INCHES BELOW NORMAL AND TIED FOR THE 7TH LEAST SNOWY APRIL ON RECROD. AT THE START OF THE MONTH, THE SNOW DEPTH WAS ZERO NEAR BANGOR AND AT THE COAST. ACROSS CENTRAL AND NORTHERN AREAS, SNOW DEPTH RANGED FROM 4 TO 9 INCHES IN LOWER ELEVATIONS, AND 10 TO 18 INCHES AT HIGHER ELEVATIONS. IN CARIBOU, SNOW DEPTH DECREASED TO A TRACE ON APRIL 7TH AND REMAINED THERE (OR LOWER) THROUGH THE END OF THE MONTH. MOST OTHER PLACES IN THE NORTH HAD ZERO SNOW DEPTH BY THE 15TH, WITH SOME OF THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS NOT REACHING ZERO SNOW DEPTH UNTIL THE END OF THE MONTH. FOLLOWING THE APRIL 3-5 STORM, THE SNOW DEPTH IN BANGOR REACHED 9 INCHES ON APRIL 5TH. THIS WAS THE LARGEST SNOW DEPTH OF THE 2023-2024 SEASON AT BANGOR. SNOW DEPTH AT BANGOR FELL TO ZERO ON APRIL 9TH AND REMAINED THERE THROUGH THE MONTH. REMAINING ICE ON THE SAINT JOHN AND ALLAGASH RIVERS WENT OUT BY THE SECOND WEEK OF APRIL. MOOSEHEAD LAKE REPORTED ICE OUT ON APRIL 20TH. THIS WAS EARLIER THAN AVERAGE, BUT STILL LATER THAN THE RECORD EARLY ICE OUT ON APRIL 14, 1945. ICE WENT OUT ON ALL NORTHERN LAKES BY THE END OF THE MONTH. THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER`S FORECAST FOR MAY 2024 INDICATES THAT THE ODDS ARE SLIGHTLY TILTED TOWARD ABOVE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES. THERE ARE NO STRONG CLIMATE SIGNALS FOR ABOVE OR BELOW AVERAGE PRECIPITATION. AT THE START OF THE MONTH OF MAY, AVERAGE HIGHS RANGE FROM THE MID 50S IN THE NORTH TO AROUND 60 DEGREES NEAR BANGOR. AVERAGE LOWS RANGE FROM THE MID 30S IN THE NORTH TO NEAR 40 DEGREES AT THE COAST. BY THE END OF THE MONTH, AVERAGE HIGHS RISE TO THE UPPER 60S FOR MOST OF THE AREA, AND NEAR 70 DEGREES IN BANGOR. ON AVERAGE, 3 TO 4 INCHES OF LIQUID PRECIPITATION IS OBSERVED ACROSS THE AREA DURING THE MONTH OF MAY. SNOW CAN STILL FALL DURING THE MONTH OF MAY. HOWEVER, ANY SNOW GENERALLY MELTS QUICKLY AFTER IT FALLS OWING TO HIGHER SUN ANGLE AND WARMER TEMPERATURES. AT CARIBOU, THE AVERAGE SNOWFALL FOR MAY IS 0.8 INCHES. MEASURABLE SNOW HAS OCCURRED IN 23 YEARS, AND AT LEAST A TRACE OF SNOW IN 63 YEARS SINCE RECORDS BEGAN. IN BANGOR, THERE HAS BEEN MEASURABLE SNOW IN MAY 6 TIMES AND AT LEAST A TRACE IN 23 YEARS. FROST CAN OCCUR AT ANY TIME OF THE MONTH ACROSS THE NORTHERN VALLEYS, BUT BECOMES LESS COMMON BY MID TO LATE MONTH ACROSS THE DOWNEAST REGION. $$ NC/CB/VJN