Climatological Report (Seasonal)
Issued by NWS Caribou, ME
Issued by NWS Caribou, ME
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000 CXUS51 KCAR 061755 CLSCAR CLIMATE REPORT...PRELIMINARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CARIBOU ME 336 PM EST THU MAR 04 2021 ................................... ...THE CARIBOU ME CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE SEASON, FROM 12/1/2020 TO 2/28/2021... CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD: 1981 TO 2010 CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD: 1939 TO 2021 WEATHER OBSERVED NORMAL DEPART LAST YEAR`S VALUE DATE(S) VALUE FROM VALUE DATE(S) NORMAL ................................................................ TEMPERATURE (F) RECORD HIGH 60 12/01/2020 LOW -41 02/01/1955 HIGHEST 60* 12/01 MM MM 49 12/10 LOWEST -15 02/10 MM MM -24 02/15 AVG. MAXIMUM 28.4 23.2 5.2 27.1 AVG. MINIMUM 13.0 5.1 7.9 8.6 MEAN 20.7 14.2 6.5 17.8 DAYS MAX >= 90 0 0.0 0.0 MM DAYS MAX <= 32 64 68.7 -4.7 MM DAYS MIN <= 32 86 87.7 -1.7 MM DAYS MIN <= 0 16 34.6 -18.6 MM PRECIPITATION (INCHES) RECORD MAXIMUM 12.62 2008 MINIMUM 2.38 1944 TOTALS 8.03 8.19 -0.16 8.49 DAILY AVG. 0.09 0.09 -0.00 0.09 DAYS >= .01 51 40.5 10.5 MM DAYS >= .10 18 19.1 -1.1 MM DAYS >= .50 5 5.1 -0.1 MM DAYS >= 1.00 0 0.9 -0.9 MM GREATEST 24 HR. TOTAL 1.23 1.17 01/11 TO 01/12 SNOWFALL (INCHES) RECORDS TOTAL 128.7 2008 TOTALS 77.3 70.3 7.0 82.4 SINCE 7/1 85.4 82.5 2.9 MM SNOWDEPTH AVG. 10 MM DAYS >= 1.0 18 17.5 0.5 MM GREATEST SNOW DEPTH 23 02/28 MM 02/29 24 HR TOTAL MM MM DEGREE DAYS HEATING TOTAL 3958 4576 -618 4267 SINCE 7/1 5535 6720 -1185 MM COOLING TOTAL 0 0 0 0 SINCE 1/1 0 0 0 MM ................................................................ WIND (MPH) AVERAGE WIND SPEED 7.2 HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 30/250 DATE 02/06 HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 45/010 DATE 12/06 SKY COVER POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT) MM AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.67 NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR 20 NUMBER OF DAYS PC 20 NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY 50 AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 72 WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH THUNDERSTORM 0 MIXED PRECIP 0 HEAVY RAIN 1 RAIN 3 LIGHT RAIN 7 FREEZING RAIN 3 LT FREEZING RAIN 6 HAIL 0 HEAVY SNOW 6 SNOW 6 LIGHT SNOW 64 SLEET 2 FOG 45 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 5 HAZE 12 - INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS. * INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED. MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING. T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT. && ...2020/21 WINTER CLIMATE NARRATIVE FOR NORTHERN/EASTERN MAINE... METEOROLOGICAL WINTER (DECEMBER - FEBRUARY) OF 2020/21 ACROSS NORTHERN/EASTERN MAINE WAS GENERALLY MUCH WARMER THEN AVERAGE WITH SLIGHTLY LESS THAN AVERAGE LIQUID EQUIVALENT PRECIPITATION AND BELOW TO NEAR NORMAL SNOWFALL. TEMPERATURES AVERAGED FROM +5 DEGREES F OVER DOWNEAST AREAS UPWARDS TO +7 DEGREES ACROSS THE FAR NORTH WITH DECEMBER AND JANUARY BEING THE MAIN CONTRIBUTORS TO THE WARM DEPARTURES. AT CARIBOU (BANGOR) THE AVERAGE SEASONAL TEMPERATURE OF 20.7 (25.9) FINISHED AS 3RD (4TH) WARMEST BEHIND WARMEST SEASONAL AVERAGE OF 21.6 (29.4) SET IN 2015/16 (1936/37). HOULTON`S AVERAGE OF 21.8 NEARLY TIED IT WARMEST WINTER SEASON SET IN 2109/10 AND MILLINOCKET`S AVERAGE OF 23.3 FINISHED SECOND WARMEST BEHIND 23.5 SET IN 2001/02. METEOROLOGICAL WINTER OPENED ON DECEMBER 1ST WITH RECORD HIGH TEMPS WHICH RESULTED IN CARIBOU ESTABLISHING ITS WARMEST AND FIRST 60 DEGREE HIGH TEMPERATURE RECORDED DURING THIS PERIOD. AFTER A COOL DOWN AND SOME SNOWFALL ACROSS MOSTLY NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE REGION LATER IN THE MONTH, ANOTHER MASSIVE THAW ACCOMPANIED BY RAIN, WIND, AND FOG RESULTED IN RECORD HIGH TEMPS ON CHRISTMAS DAY AND EARLY ON THE 26TH, MELTING MOST OF THE SNOW THAT ACCUMULATED ACROSS THE NORTH. RATHER THAN EXTREME EPISODES OF WARMTH, JANUARY FEATURED STEADY ABOVE AVERAGE HIGH TEMPS AND WELL ABOVE AVERAGE LOW TEMPS DUE TO A RELATIVE LACK OF ARCTIC AIR AND PERSISTENT CLOUDY SKIES OVER THE REGION. COLDER, BUT STILL SOMEWHAT ABOVE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES RETURNED FOR FEBRUARY, BUT OVERALL, THERE WAS NO LENGTHY BITTERLY COLD ARCTIC WEATHER SPELLS ACROSS THE REGION THIS METEOROLOGICAL WINTER. MINIMUM LOW TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE REGION GENERALLY RANGED FROM MINUS SINGLE DIGITS OVER DOWNEAST AREAS TO -10S ACROSS NORTHEAST AND EAST CENTRAL AREAS TO -20S OVER COLDER NORTHWEST VALLEY AREAS. LIQUID EQUIVALENT PRECIPITATION FOR THE SEASON RANGED FROM AS LOW 75 PERCENT DOWNEAST UPWARDS TO 110 PERCENT OF AVERAGE ACROSS PARTS OF THE NORTH AND CENTRAL MAINE HIGHLANDS. SNOWFALL RANGED FROM 60 PERCENT OVER DOWNEAST AREAS UPWARDS TO 115 PERCENT OF AVERAGE ACROSS PARTS OF THE NORTH AND CENTRAL MAINE HIGHLANDS. DECEMBER FEATURED LITTLE SNOWFALL OVER DOWNEAST AREAS WHERE IT WAS OFTEN TOO WARM FOR SNOW DURING PRECIPITATION EVENTS, WHERE JANUARY WAS CLIMATOLOGICALLY THE DRIEST AND LEAST SNOWIEST MONTH ACROSS THE REGION AS A WHOLE. FEBRUARY WITH MORE FREQUENT EVENTS BROUGHT MUCH MORE SNOWFALL TO THE REGION COMPARED TO THE PRIOR TWO MONTHS. MOST SNOW EVENTS THIS WINTER WERE OF THE LIGHT TO MODERATE VARIETY WITH 10+ INCH EVENTS COMPARATIVELY RARE THIS SEASON AND MOSTLY CONFINED TO THE NORTHWEST AND CENTRAL MAINE HIGHLANDS. AVERAGE SNOWDEPTH WHICH GENERALLY WAS ONLY 50 TO 70 PERCENT OF AVERAGE ACROSS THE REGION CAPTURED THESE MONTHLY SNOWFALL TRENDS. AT CARIBOU (BANGOR), THE SEASONAL AVERAGE SNOWDEPTH OF 9.9 (3.4) INCHES WAS 4.1 (2.9) INCHES BELOW THE LONG TERM AVERAGES OF 14.0 (6.3) INCHES. THIS WAS THE 15TH LOWEST SEASONAL AVERAGE SNOWDEPTH OF RECORD AT BANGOR. DECEMBER THAWS AND MILD, DRY CONDITIONS OF JANUARY RESULTED IN A DELAY OF THE SKIING AND SNOWMOBILE SEASON EVEN ACROSS THE NORTH. IN FACT, AT CARIBOU, SNOW DEPTH JUST BEGAN TO REACH 10 INCHES (CONSIDERED TO BE A MINIMUM SAFE SNOW DEPTH ON TRAILS FOR SNOW MOBILERS) AGAIN AFTER THE CHRISTMAS THAW TOWARD THE END OF JANUARY, WITH MORE FREQUENT SNOWFALLS IN FEBRUARY BRINGING MAXIMUM DAILY SNOWDEPTHS CLOSER TO SEASONAL NORMS BY THE CLOSE OF THE MONTH WITH CARIBOU (BANGOR) REACHING A MAX DEPTH OF 23 (12) INCHES ON FEBRUARY 28TH (23RD). THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER`S METEOROLOGICAL SPRING (MARCH-MAY) OUTLOOK FOR THE REGION IS CALLING FOR SLIGHTLY GREATER THAN NORMAL ODDS OF ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND ABOVE AVERAGE PRECIPITATION. AVERAGE TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE NORTH (INTERIOR DOWNEAST) BEGIN IN EARLY MARCH WITH LOWS OF LOWER TO MID TEENS (LOWER 20S TO UPPER 30S) AND HIGHS OF LOWER 30S (UPPER 30S) AND FINISH IN LATE MAY WITH LOWS OF MID 40S (AROUND 50) TO HIGHS OF MID TO UPPER 60S (AROUND 70). AVERAGE PRECIPITATION (SNOWFALL) RANGES FROM 8.00 (30.0) INCHES ACROSS THE FAR NORTH TO 10.00 (15.0) INCHES ALONG THE DOWNEAST COAST. $$ VJN/CB