Climatological Report (Seasonal)
Issued by NWS Portland, ME
Issued by NWS Portland, ME
000 CXUS51 KGYX 031215 CLSGYX PWMCLSGYX 000 TTAA00 GYX 011114 CLIMATE REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAY ME 714 AM EDT FRI SEP 01 2023 ................................... ...THE GRAY ME CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE SUMMER SEASON, FROM 6/1/2023 TO 8/31/2023... CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD: 1991 TO 2020 CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD: 1995 TO 2023 WEATHER OBSERVED NORMAL DEPART LAST YEAR`S VALUE DATE(S) VALUE FROM VALUE NORMAL .............................................................. TEMPERATURE (F) RECORD HIGH 99 07/22/2011 LOW 37 06/01/2009 HIGHEST 89 06/02 93 -4 94 07/05 07/06 LOWEST 41 06/04 44 -3 46 AVG. MAXIMUM 74.6 76.9 -2.3 79.0 AVG. MINIMUM 58.8 57.6 1.2 59.6 MEAN 66.7 67.2 -0.5 69.3 DAYS MAX >= 90 0 3.8 -3.8 5 DAYS MAX <= 32 0 0.0 0.0 0 DAYS MIN <= 32 0 0.0 0.0 0 DAYS MIN <= 0 0 0.0 0.0 0 PRECIPITATION (INCHES) RECORD MAXIMUM 21.77 2009 TOTALS 21.34 12.30 9.04 9.60 DAILY AVG. 0.23 0.13 0.10 0.10 DAYS >= .01 52 36.5 15.5 32 DAYS >= .10 31 21.0 10.0 24 DAYS >= .50 13 8.0 5.0 5 DAYS >= 1.00 5 3.1 1.9 1 GREATEST 24 HR. TOTAL 3.63 08/08 1.73 SNOWFALL (INCHES) RECORDS TOTAL 0.0 TOTALS 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 SINCE 7/1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 SNOWDEPTH AVG. 0 DAYS >= TRACE 0 0.0 0.0 0 DAYS >= 1.0 0 0.0 0.0 0 GREATEST SNOW DEPTH 0 0 24 HR TOTAL 0.0 0 DEGREE DAYS HEATING TOTAL 150 139 11 99 SINCE 7/1 12 31 -19 3 COOLING TOTAL 333 348 -15 523 SINCE 1/1 347 357 -10 550 .............................................................. - INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS. R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED. MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING. T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT. && THE SUMMER OF 2023 WAS WET IN THE GRAY AREA. MORE OFTEN THAN NOT A TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE WAS IN THE VICINITY OF THE NORTHEAST WHICH LED TO FREQUENT PRECIPITATION EVENTS. MANY OF THESE PRECIPITATION EVENTS INVOLVED VERY HEAVY RAIN ACROSS MAINE WITH WFO GYX ISSUING MORE FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS WITHIN THE FORECAST AREA THAN ANY OTHER YEAR. SOME OF THESE FLASH FLOOD EVENTS OCCURRED NEAR THE GRAY AREA WITH THE MOST NOTABLE OCCURRING ON AUGUST 8TH WHEN 3.63 INCHES OF RAIN FELL WITH HIGHER AMOUNTS TO THE NORTH OF THE AREA. AFTER A WARM START TO THE SUMMER, TEMPERATURES TOOK A TUMBLE WELL BELOW NORMAL WHEN A COLD FRONT DROPPED SOUTH THROUGH THE REGION ON JUNE 3RD RESULTING IN A HIGH TEMPERATURE OF ONLY 49 DEGREES ON JUNE 4TH. IT WAS ALSO DURING THE BEGINNING OF JUNE WHEN THE NAO DROPPED INTO NEGATIVE TERRITORY WHILE THE PNA TURNED POSITIVE. THESE TELECONNECTIONS FAVORED PATTERN OF UPPER LOWS LINGERING OVER NEW ENGLAND AS A BLOCKING RIDGE OVER EASTERN CANADA INHIBITED THE EASTWARD PROGRESSION OF THESE SYSTEMS. THIS PATTERN RESULTED IN TEMPERATURES RUNNING WELL BELOW NORMAL FOR THE MONTH OF JUNE ALONG WITH 21 DAYS OF THE MONTH RECEIVING MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION. WHILE THE NAO DID TREND TOWARDS NEUTRAL DURING THE SECOND HALF OF JUNE THE POSITIVE PNA HELPED TO MAINTAIN THE UNSETTLED PATTERN THROUGH THE END OF THE MONTH. THE NAO TURNED SHARPLY NEGATIVE IN EARLY JULY AND STAYED THERE THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF THE MONTH. THIS CONTINUED THE UNSETTLED PATTERN THROUGH MUCH OF JULY WITH FRONTAL SYSTEMS OFTEN STALLING OVER THE AREA DUE TO A DOWNSTREAM BLOCKING RIDGE NEAR LABRADOR CANADA. THE GRAY AREA REMAINED ON THE WARM AND HUMID SIDE OF THESE FRONTS RESULTING IN THE LOW TEMPERATURE FAILING TO DROP BELOW 60 DEGREES FOR 31 DAYS FROM THE END OF JUNE UNTIL THE END OF JULY. AT THE END OF JULY THE NAO TRENDED TOWARDS NEUTRAL ALLOWING FOR FRONTAL SYSTEMS TO SWEEP ACROSS THE AREA LEADING TO COOLER AND DRIER AIR TO ARRIVE INTO THE AREA. TEMPERATURES AVERAGED ABOVE NORMAL IN JULY, LARGELY DUE TO WARM NIGHT TIME TEMPERATURES. THE THEME OF FREQUENT PRECIPITATION EVENTS CONTINUED THROUGH AUGUST. DURING THE FIRST HALF OF AUGUST THE NAO REMAINED NEGATIVE WHILE THE PNA REMAINED POSITIVE WITH THESE TELECONNECTIONS FAVORING A TROUGH JUST WEST OF NEW ENGLAND. THE NAO DID TREND TOWARDS NEUTRAL AT TIMES, WHICH ALLOWED THE TROUGH AXIS TO SHIFT NEAR OVERHEAD OF THE GRAY AREA AND SOMETIMES EAST OF NEW ENGLAND. THIS EASTWARD SHIFT OF THE TROUGH AXIS ALLOWED FOR COOL AND DRY HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEMS TO BUILD INTO THE AREA BRINGING PERIODS OF DRY WEATHER WITH TEMPERATURES TRENDING NEAR NORMAL. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE SUMMER WAS 66.7 DEGREES, WHICH WAS 0.5 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. THE COOLEST SUMMER ON RECORD WAS IN 2009 WHEN THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 65.5 DEGREES. THE WARMEST WAS 69.3 DEGREES IN 2022. A TOTAL OF 21.34 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION FELL, WHICH WAS 9.04 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL AND THE SECOND WETTEST SUMMER ON RECORD. THE WETTEST WAS IN 2009 WHEN 21.77 INCHES FELL. THE DRIEST WAS 6.92 INCHES IN 1999. THE FOLLOWING TABLE LISTS THE WETTEST SUMMERS ON RECORD AT GRAY. MOST PRECIPITATION IN SUMMER (SINCE 1996)... RANK PRECIP YEAR 1 21.77 2009 2 21.34 2023 <=== 3 20.88 2006 4 19.52 2012 5 18.33 1998 $$ DS