Climatological Report (Seasonal)
Issued by NWS Portland, ME
Issued by NWS Portland, ME
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000 CXUS51 KGYX 050038 CLSPWM PWMCLSPWM 000 TTAA00 GYX 020952 CLIMATE REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAY ME 552 AM EDT FRI JUN 02 2023 ................................... ...THE PORTLAND ME CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE SPRING SEASON, FROM 3/1/2023 TO 5/31/2023... CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD: 1991 TO 2020 CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD: 1941 TO 2023 (FOR TEMPERATURES) CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD: 1871 TO 2023 (FOR PRECIPITATION) CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD: 1882 TO 2023 (FOR SNOWFALL) WEATHER OBSERVED NORMAL DEPART LAST YEAR`S VALUE DATE(S) VALUE FROM VALUE DATE(S) NORMAL ................................................................ TEMPERATURE (F) RECORD HIGH 94 05/31/1987 LOW -21 03/04/1950 HIGHEST 89 05/28 85 4 84 05/14 LOWEST 18 03/01 6 12 1 03/01 AVG. MAXIMUM 54.4 53.5 0.9 54.7 AVG. MINIMUM 36.2 35.6 0.6 36.2 MEAN 45.3 44.5 0.8 45.4 DAYS MAX >= 90 0 0.4 -0.4 0 DAYS MAX <= 32 0 4.2 -4.2 3 DAYS MIN <= 32 36 37.2 -1.2 28 DAYS MIN <= 0 0 0.4 -0.4 0 PRECIPITATION (INCHES) RECORD MAXIMUM 22.55 1983 MINIMUM 4.23 1965 TOTALS 12.27 12.16 0.11 9.18 DAILY AVG. 0.13 0.13 -0.00 0.10 DAYS >= .01 29 34.9 -5.9 31 DAYS >= .10 19 21.1 -2.1 20 DAYS >= .50 8 8.2 -0.2 5 DAYS >= 1.00 4 2.7 1.3 1 GREATEST 24 HR. TOTAL 3.06 04/30 TO 05/01 SNOWFALL (INCHES) RECORDS TOTAL 61.5 1906 TOTALS 14.0 16.4 -2.4 3.0 SINCE 7/1 56.5 68.7 -12.2 44.1 SNOWDEPTH AVG. 1 DAYS >= TRACE 12 6.4 5.6 7 DAYS >= 1.0 2 3.5 -1.5 0 GREATEST SNOW DEPTH 15 03/05 24 HR TOTAL 8.5 03/04 DEGREE DAYS HEATING TOTAL 1794 1894 -100 1787 SINCE 7/1 6131 6705 -574 6400 COOLING TOTAL 6 11 -5 11 SINCE 1/1 6 11 -5 11 ................................................................ WIND (MPH) AVERAGE WIND SPEED 9.0 HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 36/360 DATE 03/14 HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 50/110 DATE 05/01 SKY COVER AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.51 AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 65 WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH THUNDERSTORM 0 HEAVY RAIN 4 RAIN 11 LIGHT RAIN 29 FREEZING RAIN 0 LT FREEZING RAIN 0 HEAVY SNOW 1 SNOW 3 LIGHT SNOW 12 FOG 36 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 5 HAZE 4 - INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS. R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED. MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING. T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT. && THE SNOWY PATTERN THAT DEVELOPED TOWARDS THE END OF WINTER CONTINUED INTO THE THE FIRST WEEK OF SPRING IN THE PORTLAND AREA. AS ONE SYSTEM EXITED ON MARCH 1ST, ANOTHER SYSTEM CROSSED ON MARCH 2ND BRINGING LIGHT SNOW. A MORE SIGNIFICANT LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM TRACKED ALONG THE SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND COASTLINE MARCH 4TH THAT BROUGHT 8.5 INCHES OF SNOW AND WOULD BE THE GREATEST SNOWFALL OF THE SPRING SEASON. QUIET WEATHER FOLLOWED UNTIL A STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IMPACTED NEW ENGLAND MARCH 13TH INTO THE MORNING OF MARCH 15TH. THIS SYSTEM BROUGHT SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL TO INTERIOR NEW ENGLAND WHILE IN THE PORTLAND AREA TEMPERATURES WERE TOO WARM FOR ACCUMULATING SNOWFALL. RELATIVELY QUIET WEATHER FOLLOWED WITH THE LAST OF THE WINTER SNOWPACK MELTING OUT BY THE MORNING OF MARCH 21ST. RELATIVELY QUIET WEATHER CONTINUED THROUGH THE FIRST HALF OF APRIL WITH A BRIEF WARM SPELL AROUND THE MIDDLE OF THE MONTH. THE PORTLAND AREA ECLIPSED THE 70 DEGREE MARK FOR THE FIRST TIME OF THE SEASON ON THE 14TH WHEN THE HIGH TEMPERATURE REACHED 79 DEGREES. THEREAFTER, THE NAO TOOK A DIVE INTO NEGATIVE TERRITORY AS STRONG AND PERSISTENT OMEGA BLOCK FORMED OVER EASTERN NORTH AMERICA AND THE NORTH ATLANTIC. THIS BLOCKING PATTERN PERSISTED INTO THE FIRST WEEK OF MAY THAT LEAD TO MULTIPLE RAIN EVENTS, TEMPERATURES RUNNING BELOW NORMAL, AND WHEN IT WASN`T RAINING IT WAS OFTEN CLOUDY WITH DRIZZLE. THERE WERE ALSO DAYS WITH VERY LITTLE VARIATION BETWEEN THE HIGH AND LOW TEMPERATURE WITH THE ALL TIME RECORD FOR LOWEST TEMPERATURE SPREAD OF 1 DEGREE OCCURRED ON APRIL 24TH WHEN THE HIGH WAS 44 DEGREES AND THE LOW WAS 43 DEGREES. ALSO DURING THIS PATTERN A SIGNIFICANT RAIN EVENT OCCURRED ON APRIL 30TH INTO MAY 1ST WHEN A STORM TOTAL OF 3.06 INCHES OF RAIN FELL IN PORTLAND. ACROSS AREAS NORTH AND EAST OF PORTLAND OF 5 TO 6 INCHES OF RAIN FELL RESULTING IN SIGNIFICANT FLOODING. THE OMEGA BLOCK THAT PLAGUED THE NORTHEAST FOR THE BETTER PART OF THREE WEEKS BROKE DOWN BY MAY 6TH. DRY WEATHER FOLLOWED THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF THE MONTH AND WITH THE EXCEPTION OF A FEW COOL DAYS AND SEASONABLY COLD NIGHTS, TEMPERATURES TRENDED ABOVE NORMAL. ONE OF THESE COLD NIGHTS OCCURRED ON MAY 17TH INTO THE MORNING OF THE 18TH WHEN THE LAST FREEZE OF THE SEASON OCCURRED WHEN THE LOW TEMPERATURE DROPPED TO 30 DEGREES. ANOTHER HEAVY RAIN EVENT OCCURRED MAY 20TH INTO THE 21ST WHEN A STORM TOTAL OF 2.33 INCHES OF RAIN FELL. A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE THEN DOMINATED THE WEATHER PATTERN THE LAST WEEK OF MAY RESULTED IN FAIR WEATHER WITH SOME VERY WARM DAYS INTERMIXED WITH COOLER DAYS THANKS TO AFTERNOON SEA BREEZES. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE SPRING SEASON WAS 45.3 DEGREES, WHICH WAS 0.8 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL AND TIED FOR THE EIGHTH WARMEST SPRING ON RECORD. THE WARMEST SPRING ON RECORD WAS IN 2010 WHEN THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 48.8 DEGREES. THE COOLEST WAS 37.9 DEGREES IN 1956. THE FOLLOWING TABLE LISTS THE WARMEST SPRINGS ON RECORD AT PORTLAND. WARMEST AVERAGE TEMPERATURE IN SPRING (SINCE 1941)... RANK TEMP YEAR 1 48.8 2010 2 48.2 2012 3 47.0 1991 4 46.4 1998 5 45.5 2021 6 45.4 2022 45.4 1981 8 45.3 2023 <=== 45.3 2020 10 45.2 1942 THE LAST FREEZE OF THE SPRING SEASON OCCURRED ON MAY 18TH WHEN THE LOW TEMPERATURE DROPPED TO 30 DEGREES. THIS WAS OVER THREE WEEKS LATER THAN THE NORMAL LAST FREEZE OF APRIL 26TH. A TOTAL OF 12.27 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION FELL, WHICH WAS 0.11 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL. THE HEAVIEST PRECIPITATION FELL ON APRIL 30TH INTO MAY 1ST WHEN A TOTAL OF 3.06 INCHES OF RAIN FELL. THE WETTEST SPRING ON RECORD WAS IN 1983 WHEN A TOTAL OF 22.55 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION FELL. THE DIREST WAS 4.23 INCHES IN 1965. THERE WAS A TOTAL OF 14.0 INCHES OF SNOWFALL, WHICH WAS 2.4 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. THE HEAVIEST SNOWFALL OCCURRED ON MARCH 4TH WHEN THE PORTLAND AREA RECEIVED 8.5 INCHES. THE LEAST SNOWIEST SPRING WAS IN 1921 AND 1910 WHEN ONLY A TRACE OF SNOWFALL WAS RECORDED. THE SNOWIEST WAS 61.5 INCHES IN 1906. THE FOLLOWING DAILY RECORDS WERE SET OR TIED IN SPRING 20232... DATE RECORD PREVIOUS APR 14 79 - WARMEST HIGH TEMPERATURE 77 IN 1941 APR 14 47 - WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 46 IN 2002 AND 1949 APR 24 1 - SMALLEST TEMPERATURE RANGE 3 IN 1966 AND 1964 APR 25 2 - SMALLEST TEMPERATURE RANGE 3 IN 1955 APR 30 2.50 - GREATEST PRECIPITATION 1.33 IN 1915 MAY 3 4 - SMALLEST TEMPERATURE RANGE 4 IN 1998 AND OTHERS MAY 18 30 - COLDEST LOW TEMPERATURE 31 IN 1981 AND 1959 $$ DS