Climatological Report (Monthly)
Issued by NWS Portland, ME
Issued by NWS Portland, ME
370 CXUS51 KGYX 032044 CCC CLMPWM PWMCLMPWM 000 TTAA00 GYX 022055 CLIMATE REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAY ME 355 PM EST FRI FEB 02 2024 ................................... ...THE PORTLAND ME CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF JANUARY 2024... CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD: 1991 TO 2020 CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD: 1941 TO 2024 CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD: 1871 TO 2024 (FOR PRECIPITATION) CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD: 1882 TO 2024 (FOR SNOWFALL) WEATHER OBSERVED NORMAL DEPART LAST YEAR`S VALUE DATE(S) VALUE FROM VALUE DATE(S) NORMAL ................................................................ TEMPERATURE (F) RECORD HIGH 67 01/06/2007 LOW -26 01/19/1971 HIGHEST 52 01/10 50 2 55 01/01 LOWEST 6 01/22 -7 13 11 01/22 AVG. MAXIMUM 34.2 32.4 1.8 38.5 AVG. MINIMUM 20.6 15.6 5.0 24.4 MEAN 27.4 24.0 3.4 31.5 DAYS MAX >= 90 0 0.0 0.0 0 DAYS MAX <= 32 14 15.9 -1.9 7 DAYS MIN <= 32 29 29.3 -0.3 28 DAYS MIN <= 0 0 3.5 -3.5 0 PRECIPITATION (INCHES) RECORD MAXIMUM 12.29 1935 MINIMUM 0.28 2004 TOTALS 7.92 3.50 4.42 7.74 DAILY AVG. 0.26 0.11 0.15 0.25 DAYS >= .01 10 11.2 -1.2 19 DAYS >= .10 10 6.7 3.3 13 DAYS >= .50 5 2.5 2.5 6 DAYS >= 1.00 2 0.8 1.2 3 GREATEST 24 HR. TOTAL 2.69 01/09 TO 01/10 SNOWFALL (INCHES) RECORDS TOTAL 62.4 1979 TOTALS 23.0 18.6 4.4 24.0 SINCE 7/1 23.7 35.7 -12.0 28.7 SNOWDEPTH AVG. 2 DAYS >= TRACE 14 7.6 6.4 DAYS >= 1.0 5 4.5 0.5 GREATEST SNOW DEPTH 11 01/08 24 HR TOTAL 12.8 01/07 DEGREE DAYS HEATING TOTAL 1157 1271 -114 1031 SINCE 7/1 3339 3726 -387 3283 COOLING TOTAL 0 0 0 0 SINCE 1/1 0 0 0 0 ................................................................ WIND (MPH) AVERAGE WIND SPEED 7.6 HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 38/120 DATE 01/10 38/090 01/13 HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 63/130 DATE 01/10 SKY COVER AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.62 AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 72 WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH THUNDERSTORM 0 HEAVY RAIN 2 RAIN 4 LIGHT RAIN 7 FREEZING RAIN 0 LT FREEZING RAIN 3 HEAVY SNOW 2 SNOW 5 LIGHT SNOW 12 FOG 13 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 3 HAZE 2 - INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS. R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED. MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING. T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT. && THE THEME FOR WETTER AND WARMER THAN NORMAL CONDITIONS THAT DOMINATED IN 2023 CONTINUED INTO JANUARY FOR THE PORTLAND AREA. THERE WAS NO SNOW ON THE GROUND TO START THE MONTH, BUT THAT CHANGED WHEN LOW PRESSURE TRACKED ACROSS SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND ON THE 7TH THAT BROUGHT 12.8 INCHES OF LOW DENSITY SNOW. THIS WOULD BE THE GREATEST SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH AND TO THE DISMAY OF SNOW ENTHUSIASTS, THIS SNOW WAS WIPED OUT BY TWO STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEMS THAT TRACKED WEST OF NEW ENGLAND ON THE 10TH AND THE 13TH. THE FIRST STORM ARRIVED THE EVENING OF THE 9TH AND BROUGHT 2.69 INCHES OF RAIN ALONG WITH DAMAGING SOUTHEAST WINDS THAT PEAKED AT 63 MPH. UNFORTUNATELY FOR THE COAST OF MAINE, THESE STRONG ONSHORE WINDS PRODUCED A SIGNIFICANT STORM SURGE THAT PEAKED IN ALIGNMENT WITH THE LATE MORNING HIGH TIDE. THIS PRODUCED THE 4TH HIGHEST WATER LEVEL AT PORTLAND AT 13.84 FEET AND RESULTED IN SIGNIFICANT COASTAL FLOODING WITH PORTIONS OF THE MID COAST HIT PARTICULARLY HARD. THE STORM ON THE 13TH WAS SLIGHTLY WEAKER PRODUCING PEAK WINDS OF 53 MPH AND RAINFALL OF 2.43 INCHES. HOWEVER, THE PEAK IN THE STORM SURGE WAS IN ALIGNMENT WITH THE PEAK OF THE ASTRONOMICAL HIGH TIDE FOR THE MONTH. THIS RESULTED IN A NEW ALL TIME RECORD WATER LEVEL AT PORTLAND WITH THE TIDAL GAGE REACHING 14.57 FEET AND A SECOND ROUND OF DEVASTATING COASTAL FLOODING WITH AREAS ALONG CASCO BAY AND COASTAL YORK COUNTY GETTING HIT THE HARDEST. THE REST OF THE MONTH FEATURED TEMPERATURES RUNNING BELOW NORMAL FOR SEVERAL DAYS BEFORE RUNNING WELL ABOVE NORMAL TOWARDS THE END OF THE MONTH. DURING THIS TIME THERE WERE MULTIPLE LIGHT PRECIPITATION EVENTS THAT BROUGHT PERIODS OF SNOW, SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN WITH THE PORTLAND AREA ENDING THE MONTH WITH 5 INCHES OF SNOW ON THE GROUND. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 27.4 DEGREES, WHICH WAS 3.4 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL AND THE 9TH WARMEST JANUARY ON RECORD. THE WARMEST JANUARY ON RECORD WAS IN 2023 WHEN THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 31.5 DEGREES. THE COLDEST WAS 12.1 DEGREES IN 1971. THE FOLLOWING TABLE LISTS THE WARMEST JANUARYS ON RECORD AT PORTLAND. WARMEST AVERAGE TEMPERATURE IN JANUARY (SINCE 1941)... RANK TEMP YEAR 1 31.5 2023 2 30.4 2002 3 30.2 2006 4 30.1 1990 5 29.8 2020 29.8 2017 7 28.5 1953 8 27.8 2021 9 27.4 2024 <=== 10 27.3 1956 A TOTAL OF 7.92 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION FELL, WHICH WAS 4.42 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL AND THE 6TH WETTEST JANUARY ON RECORD. THE WETTEST WAS IN 1935 WHEN 12.29 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION FELL. THE DRIEST WAS 0.28 INCHES IN 2004. THE FOLLOWING TABLE LISTS THE WETTEST JANUARYS ON RECORD. MOST PRECIPITATION IN JANUARY (SINCE 1871)... RANK PRECIP YEAR 1 12.29 1935 2 11.92 1979 3 10.01 1936 4 9.41 1958 5 8.55 1923 6 7.92 2024 <=== 7 7.74 2023 8 7.72 1891 9 6.91 1978 10 6.71 1932 A TOTAL OF 23.0 INCHES OF SNOW FELL, WHICH WAS 4.4 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL. THE SNOWIEST JANUARY WAS IN 1979 WHEN 62.4 INCHES FELL. THE LEAST SNOWIEST WAS 1.6 INCHES IN 1908. THE FOLLOWING DAILY RECORDS WERE SET OR TIED IN JANUARY 2023... DATE RECORD PREVIOUS JAN 7 12.8 - GREATEST SNOWFALL 12.7 IN 1977 JAN 10 52 - WARMEST HIGH TEMPERATURE 52 IN 2016 (TIED) JAN 10 38 - WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 36 IN 1956 JAN 10 45 - WARMEST AVERAGE TEMPERATURE 43 IN 2016 JAN 13 37 - WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 36 IN 2023 AND 2013 JAN 13 44 - WARMEST AVERAGE TEMPERATURE 41 IN 2013 JAN 13 2.43 - GREATEST PRECIPITATION 1.22 IN 1979 JAN 29 4 - SMALLEST TEMPERATURE RANGE 5 IN 1958 $$ DS