Climatological Report (Seasonal)
Issued by NWS Portland, ME
Issued by NWS Portland, ME
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000 CXUS51 KGYX 071034 CLSPWM PWMCLSPWM 000 TTAA00 GYX 021759 CLIMATE REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAY ME 159 PM EDT THU JUN 02 2022 ................................... ...THE PORTLAND ME CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE SPRING SEASON, FROM 3/1/2022 TO 5/31/2022... CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD: 1991 TO 2020 CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD: 1941 TO 2021 (FOR TEMPERATURES) CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD: 1871 TO 2021 (FOR PRECIPITATION) CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD: 1882 TO 2021 (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 84 05/14 85 -1 88 05/26 LOWEST 1 03/01 6 -5 7 03/02 AVG. MAXIMUM 54.7 53.5 1.2 55.3 AVG. MINIMUM 36.2 35.6 0.6 35.7 MEAN 45.4 44.5 0.9 45.5 DAYS MAX >= 90 0 0.4 -0.4 0 DAYS MAX <= 32 3 4.2 -1.2 3 DAYS MIN <= 32 28 37.2 -9.2 28 DAYS MIN <= 0 0 0.4 -0.4 0 PRECIPITATION (INCHES) RECORD MAXIMUM 22.55 1983 MINIMUM 4.23 1965 TOTALS 9.18 12.16 -2.98 8.50 DAILY AVG. 0.10 0.13 -0.03 0.09 DAYS >= .01 31 34.9 -3.9 28 DAYS >= .10 20 21.1 -1.1 15 DAYS >= .50 5 8.2 -3.2 6 DAYS >= 1.00 1 2.7 -1.7 2 GREATEST 24 HR. TOTAL 2.11 04/08 SNOWFALL (INCHES) RECORDS TOTAL 61.5 1906 TOTALS 3.0 16.4 -13.4 0.4 SINCE 7/1 44.1 68.7 -24.6 41.3 SNOWDEPTH AVG. 0 DAYS >= TRACE 7 6.4 0.6 9 DAYS >= 1.0 0 3.5 -3.5 0 GREATEST SNOW DEPTH 5 03/03 24 HR TOTAL 0.9 03/09 DEGREE DAYS HEATING TOTAL 1787 1894 -107 1788 SINCE 7/1 6400 6705 -305 6338 COOLING TOTAL 11 11 0 16 SINCE 1/1 11 11 0 16 ................................................................ WIND (MPH) AVERAGE WIND SPEED 8.5 HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 38/310 DATE 03/21 HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 55/300 DATE 03/08 SKY COVER AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.55 AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 67 WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH THUNDERSTORM 2 HEAVY RAIN 5 RAIN 18 LIGHT RAIN 35 FREEZING RAIN 0 LT FREEZING RAIN 0 HEAVY SNOW 0 SNOW 0 LIGHT SNOW 6 FOG 38 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 12 HAZE 2 - INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS. R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED. MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING. T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT. && SPRING STARTED OFF COOLER THAN NORMAL AFTER A STRONG COLD FRONT CROSSED THE REGION WITH SOME LIGHT SNOW EVENTS THROUGH THE FIRST FEW DAYS OF MARCH. THE COOL WEATHER QUICKLY TURNED MILD BY THE END OF THE FIRST WEEK OF MARCH WITH THE LAST OF THE WINTER SNOWPACK MELTING BY THE MORNING OF MARCH 8TH. THERE WERE A COUPLE MORE LIGHT SNOW EVENTS THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF MARCH, ALTHOUGH SNOWFALL NEVER AMOUNTED TO MORE THAN ONE INCH. MILD WEATHER CONTINUED TO DOMINATE THROUGH THE END OF MARCH EXCEPT FOR A STRONG COLD FRONT CROSSING NEW ENGLAND LATE ON THE 27TH. THIS COLD FRONT BROUGHT SHOT OF COLD AIR ON THE 28TH WHEN THE HIGH TEMPERATURE ONLY REACHED 31 DEGREES AND WAS THE LAST TIME A HIGH TEMPERATURE DID NOT GET ABOVE FREEZING FOR THE SEASON. TEMPERATURES SLOWLY REBOUNDED THROUGH THE END OF MARCH AND STAYED CLOSE TO NORMAL THROUGHOUT MUCH OF APRIL. DURING APRIL THERE WAS AN ACTIVE PACIFIC JET STREAM WITH SEVERAL SYSTEMS CROSSING THE CONUS BRINGING BOUTS OF RAIN TO PORTLAND. ALSO DURING THE MONTH OF APRIL THE NAO STAYED PREDOMINANTLY NEGATIVE. THE COMPETING INFLUENCES OF MILD PACIFIC AIR FLOODING THE CONUS WHILE BLOCKING OVER THE NORTH ATLANTIC ASSOCIATED WITH THE -NAO HELPED TO KEEP TEMPERATURES STEADY WITHOUT ANY WARMS SPELLS OR COLD SNAPS FOR MUCH OF APRIL INTO EARLY MAY. THE RELATIVELY WET PATTERN IN APRIL GAVE WAY TO A DRY AND WARM PATTERN AFTER THE FIRST FEW DAYS OF MAY. THE PORTLAND AREA WENT 10 DAYS WITHOUT MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION FROM MAY 5TH TO MAY 14TH WHILE TEMPERATURES CLIMBED WELL ABOVE NORMAL PEAKING ON THE 14TH WHEN THE HIGH REACHED 84 DEGREES. THIS WARM AND DRY PATTERN WAS THE RESULT OF AN ANOMALOUS RIDGE THAT DEVELOPED OVER NEW ENGLAND. THIS RIDGE BROKE DOWN A LITTLE DURING THE THIRD WEEK OF MAY WITH A FEW COLD FRONTS CROSSING THE REGION BRINGING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS AND KNOCKED TEMPERATURES DOWN CLOSER TO NORMAL. THE RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE REDEVELOPED DURING THE LAST WEEK OF MAY BRINGING WARM AND DRY CONDITIONS TO CLOSE OUT THE SPRING SEASON. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR SPRING WAS 45.4 DEGREES, WHICH WAS 0.9 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL AND TIED FOR THE 6TH WARMEST SPRING ON RECORD. THE WARMEST SPRING ON RECORD WAS 48.8 DEGREES IN 2010. 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 2020 9 45.2 1942 10 45.1 2016 45.1 1945 THE LAST FREEZE OF THE SPRING OCCURRED ON MAY 9TH WHEN THE LOW TEMPERATURE DROPPED TO 31 DEGREES. THIS WAS ALMOST TWO WEEKS LATER THAN THE NORMAL LAST FREEZE OF APRIL 26TH. A TOTAL OF 9.18 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION FELL, WHICH WAS 2.98 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. THE HEAVIEST PRECIPITATION FELL ON APRIL 8TH WHEN A LIQUID EQUIVALENT OF 2.11 INCHES WAS RECORDED. THE DRIEST SPRING WAS IN 1965 WHEN ONLY 4.23 INCHES WAS MEASURED. THE WETTEST WAS IN 1983 WITH 22.55 INCHES. THERE WAS 3.0 INCHES OF SNOWFALL, WHICH WAS 13.4 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. THE HEAVIEST SNOWFALL FELL ON MARCH 9TH WHEN 0.9 INCHES WAS MEASURED. THE LEAST SNOWIEST SPRING WAS IN 1921 AND 1910 WITH ONLY A TRACE OF SNOWFALL. THE SNOWIEST WAS 61.5 INCHES IN 1906. THE FOLLOWING DAILY RECORDS WERE SET OR TIED IN SPRING 2022... DATE RECORD PREVIOUS MAR 6 48 - WARMEST AVERAGE TEMPERATURE 46 IN 2004 AND 1974 MAR 7 37 - WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 37 IN 2009 AND OTHERS(TIED) APR 8 2.11 - GREATEST PRECIPITATION 1.09 IN 1899 APR 14 4 - SMALLEST TEMPERATURE RANGE 4 IN 1952 (TIED) MAY 14 84 - WARMEST HIGH TEMPERATURE 81 IN 1961 MAY 14 58 - WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 56 IN 1979 MAY 14 71 - WARMEST AVERAGE TEMPERATURE 67 IN 1961 MAY 17 54 - WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 54 IN 1977 (TIED) $$ DS/HAT