Climatological Report (Seasonal)
Issued by NWS Portland, ME
Issued by NWS Portland, ME
000 CXUS51 KGYX 082020 CLSGYX PWMCLSGYX 000 TTAA00 GYX 031657 CLIMATE REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAY ME 0320 PM EST WED MAR 08 2023 ................................... ...THE GRAY ME CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE WINTER SEASON, FROM 12/1/2022 TO 2/28/2023... 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 69 12/07/1998 LOW -17 02/04/2023 HIGHEST 56 02/16 58 -2 63 LOWEST -17R 02/04 -7 -10 -9 AVG. MAXIMUM 35.6 32.7 2.9 33.3 AVG. MINIMUM 21.3 17.2 4.1 15.9 MEAN 28.5 25.0 3.5 24.6 DAYS MAX >= 90 0 0.0 0.0 0 DAYS MAX <= 32 35 43.8 -8.8 44 DAYS MIN <= 32 81 85.0 -4.0 87 DAYS MIN <= 0 3 6.7 -3.7 9 PRECIPITATION (INCHES) RECORD MAXIMUM 15.31 2008 TOTALS 11.81 11.48 0.33 9.28 DAILY AVG. 0.13 0.13 0.00 0.10 DAYS >= .01 39 33.7 5.3 37 DAYS >= .10 23 21.4 1.6 20 DAYS >= .50 9 7.6 1.4 5 DAYS >= 1.00 4 2.7 1.3 1 GREATEST 24 HR. TOTAL 1.60 1.88 SNOWFALL (INCHES) RECORDS TOTAL 111.3 2008 TOTALS 55.1 58.7 -3.6 37.8 SINCE 7/1 56.7 63.1 -6.4 38.2 SNOWDEPTH AVG. 6 DAYS >= TRACE 36 24.0 12.0 39 DAYS >= 1.0 13 14.4 -1.4 10 GREATEST SNOW DEPTH 15 01/31 12 02/01 02/02 24 HR TOTAL 16.0 02/28 TO 02/28 17.6 DEGREE DAYS HEATING TOTAL 3255 3602 -347 3622 SINCE 7/1 4519 5075 -556 3622 COOLING TOTAL 0 0 0 0 SINCE 1/1 0 0 0 0 .............................................................. - INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS. R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED. MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING. T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT. && THE WINTER OF 2022-2023 WILL GO DOWN AS ONE OF WARMEST WINTERS ON RECORD IN THE GRAY AREA. DESPITE SOME SIZABLE SNOW EVENTS, MILD TEMPERATURES INHIBITED A DEEP AND PERSISTENT SNOWPACK. LA NINA CONDITIONS WERE PRESENT FOR THE THIRD WINTER IN ROW WITH CONDITIONS TRANSITIONING TOWARDS ENSO NEUTRAL TOWARDS THE END OF FEBRUARY. THIS LA NINA ALONG WITH PERSISTENT TROPICAL CONVECTION OVER INDONESIA LED TO A PATTERN DOMINATED BY A TROUGH OVER THE WESTERN US AS WELL AS AN ACTIVE PACIFIC STORM TRACK AIMED AT CALIFORNIA. THE DOMINATE TROUGH IN THE WEST LED TO A PERSISTENT AND STRONG SOUTHEAST RIDGE THAT OFTEN PUSHED NORTH INTO NEW ENGLAND. THE ACTIVE STORM TRACK INTO CALIFORNIA ACTED TO FLOOD THE CONUS WITH MILD PACIFIC AIR AND THE STRONG SOUTHEAST RIDGE ACTED PUSH MILD AIR NORTHWARDS INTO NEW ENGLAND. A STRONG COLD FRONT CROSSED NEW ENGLAND TO START THE WINTER SEASON FOLLOWED BY BRIEF HIGH PRESSURE. A RELATIVELY ACTIVE PATTERN FOLLOWED AND LASTED THROUGH THE SOLSTICE. LOW PRESSURE SYSTEMS DURING THIS PERIOD HAD A TENDENCY TO TRACK TO THE WEST OF THE AREA LEADING TO MOSTLY RAIN EVENTS FOLLOWED BY COLD AIR INTRUSIONS BEHIND THE SYSTEMS. ONE SYSTEM MANAGED TO HAVE A SECONDARY LOW FORM IN THE GULF OF MAINE ON THE 16TH THAT ALLOWED FOR JUST ENOUGH COLD AIR FOR THE GRAY AREA TO SEE THEIR FIRST APPRECIABLE SNOWFALL WHEN 6.6 INCHES OF HEAVY WET SNOW FELL. THE MOST SIGNIFICANT SYSTEM TO IMPACT THE AREA IN DECEMBER CAME ON THE 23RD WHEN A RAPIDLY DEEPENING MID LATITUDE CYCLONE TRACKED ACROSS THE GREAT LAKES INTO QUEBEC. THIS SYSTEM BROUGHT HEAVY RAIN, POWERFUL ONSHORE WINDS, AND SIGNIFICANT COASTAL FLOODING AS THE PORTLAND TIDE GAGE REACHED ITS 4TH HIGHEST LEVEL AT 13.72 FEET. A SHOT OF COLD AIR CAME BEHIND THIS SYSTEM FOR CHRISTMAS, ALTHOUGH THIS COLD WAS SHORT LIVED AS TEMPERATURES CLIMBED WELL ABOVE NORMAL TO END DECEMBER AND LASTED THROUGH THE FIRST THREE WEEKS OF JANUARY. DURING THIS STRETCH OF ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES THERE WERE A COUPLE OF LIGHT SNOW EVENTS AS WELL AS SOME MIXED PRECIPITATION AND RAIN EVENTS. THUS, THE GRAY AREA STRUGGLED TO DEVELOP AND MAINTAIN MUCH IN THE WAY OF A SNOWPACK. THERE WAS A PATTERN CHANGE GOING INTO THE THIRD WEEK OF JANUARY WHEN A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE PUSHED INTO THE WEST COAST THAT SHIFTED A TROUGH FURTHER EAST INTO THE CENTRAL CONUS THAT SUPPRESSED THE DOMINANT SOUTHEAST RIDGE. THIS PATTERN CHANGE LEAD TO A STORM TRACK DIRECTED TOWARDS NEW ENGLAND WITH LOW PRESSURE SYSTEMS PASSING TO THE SOUTH OF GRAY PUTTING THE AREA ON THE COLD AND SNOWY SIDE OF THE SYSTEMS. ONE SYSTEM BROUGHT 7 INCHES OF SNOW ON JANUARY 19TH INTO THE 20TH FOLLOWED BY ANOTHER STORM ON THE 22ND AND 23RD THAT BROUGHT 11.6 INCHES. THESE TWO STORMS BUILT THE SNOWPACK TO ITS GREATEST DEPTH OF THE WINTER TO 16 INCHES. A HEAVY RAIN EVENT QUICKLY FOLLOWED ON THE 25TH INTO THE 26TH MELTING A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF THE FRESH SNOWPACK. TEMPERATURES THEN TRENDED ABOVE NORMAL THROUGH THE END OF JANUARY, ALTHOUGH THIS WAS INTERRUPTED BY A SIGNIFICANT BUT SHORT LIVED ARCTIC AIR OUTBREAK ON FEBRUARY 3RD AND 4TH. THIS ARCTIC AIRMASS BROUGHT LOWS INTO THE MINUS TEENS AND WITH GUSTY WINDS. TEMPERATURES QUICKLY RETURNED TO WELL ABOVE NORMAL AND REMAINED THERE THROUGH THE BALANCE OF FEBRUARY WITH LITTLE IN THE WAY OF SNOW. A PATTERN CHANGE CAME A FOOT DURING THE FINAL WEEK OF WINTER AS HIGH LATITUDE BLOCKING DEVELOPED OVER THE NORTH ATLANTIC AND THEN RETROGRADED WESTWARD INTO GREENLAND AS THE NAO DIPPED INTO NEGATIVE TERRITORY. THE ACTIVE STORM TRACK CONTINUED INTO THE WEST COAST, ALTHOUGH THE HIGH LATITUDE BLOCKING HELPED TO SUPPRESS THE STORM TRACK SOUTHWARD BRING SOME LIGHT TO MODERATE SNOW EVENTS AS WELL AS BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES TO CLOSE OUT THE WINTER SEASON. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE WINTER SEASON WAS 28.5, WHICH WAS 3.5 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THE WARMEST WINTER ON RECORD WAS THE 2001- 02 WINTER WHEN THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 29.9 DEGREES. THE COLDEST WAS 20.0 DEGREES IN 2014-15. THE FOLLOWING TABLE LISTS THE WARMEST WINTERS ON RECORD AT GRAY. WARMEST AVERAGE TEMPERATURE IN WINTER (SINCE 1996)... RANK TEMP YEAR 1 29.9 2001-02 2 29.4 2015-16 3 28.6 2022-23 <== 4 28.0 2011-12 5 27.5 1997-98 A TOTAL OF 11.81 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION FELL, WHICH WAS 0.33 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL. THE HEAVIEST PRECIPITATION FELL ON DECEMBER 23RD WHEN A TOTAL OF 1.57 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION WAS MEASURED. THE WETTEST WINTER ON RECORD WAS IN 2007-08 WHEN 15.31 INCHES FELL. THE DRIEST WAS 7.17 INCHES IN 2006-07. A TOTAL OF 55.1 INCHES OF SNOW FELL, WHICH WAS 3.6 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. THE LEAST SNOWIEST WINTER ON RECORD WAS IN 1998 WHEN ONLY 26.5 INCHES OF SNOW WAS MEASURED. THE SNOWIEST WAS 111.3 INCHES IN 2008. $$