Climatological Report (Seasonal)
Issued by NWS Portland, ME
Issued by NWS Portland, ME
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000 CXUS51 KGYX 040512 CLSPWM PWMCLMPWM 000 TTAA00 KGYX 020722 CLIMATE REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAY ME 112 AM EDT THU JUN 4 2020 ................................... ...THE PORTLAND ME CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE SPRING SEASON, FROM 3/1/2020 TO 5/31/2020... CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1981 TO 2010 CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1941 TO 2020 (FOR TEMPERATURES) CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1871 TO 2020 (FOR PRECIPITATION) CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1882 TO 2020 (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 86 05/28 85 1 84 05/26 LOWEST 16 03/01 6 10 2 03/07 AVG. MAXIMUM 54.4 53.0 1.4 51.7 AVG. MINIMUM 36.1 34.6 1.5 34.7 MEAN 45.3 43.8 1.5 43.2 DAYS MAX >= 90 0 0.4 -0.4 0 DAYS MAX <= 32 0 4.3 -4.3 4 DAYS MIN <= 32 32 36.8 -4.8 38 DAYS MIN <= 0 0 0.4 -0.4 0 PRECIPITATION (INCHES) RECORD MAXIMUM 22.55 1983 MINIMUM 4.23 1965 TOTALS 10.79 12.57 -1.78 11.98 DAILY AVG. 0.12 0.14 -0.02 0.13 DAYS >= .01 30 35.5 -5.5 43 DAYS >= .10 20 21.6 -1.6 27 DAYS >= .50 8 8.5 -0.5 10 DAYS >= 1.00 3 2.8 0.2 1 GREATEST 24 HR. TOTAL 1.33 04/09 SNOWFALL (INCHES) RECORDS TOTAL 61.5 1906 TOTALS 9.1 15.5 -6.4 14.9 SINCE 7/1 59.6 61.9 -2.3 66.0 SNOWDEPTH AVG. 0 DAYS >= TRACE 12 6.1 5.9 14 DAYS >= 1.0 2 3.7 -1.7 4 GREATEST SNOW DEPTH 5 03/24 24 HR TOTAL 6.1 03/23 TO 03/24 DEGREE_DAYS HEATING TOTAL 1809 1960 -151 1986 SINCE 7/1 6389 7001 -612 6978 COOLING TOTAL 18 7 11 3 SINCE 1/1 18 7 11 3 ................................................................. WIND (MPH) AVERAGE WIND SPEED 9.4 HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 36/290 DATE 03/04 HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 48/310 DATE 05/09 SKY COVER AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.50 AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 60 - INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS. R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED. MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING. T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT. && AFTER A WINTER THAT WAS MOSTLY MILD, SPRING BEGAN WITH MORE MILD WEATHER. THE LAST OF THE WINTER SNOW DEPTH WAS GONE BY THE MORNING OF MARCH 5. A FEW DAYS LATER THE TEMPERATURE SOARED TO 70 DEGREES ON MARCH 9. BUT IF RESIDENTS THOUGHT THE SNOW WAS DONE FOR THE SEASON THEN THEY WERE SURPRISED A FEW MORE TIMES. A SNOWSTORM ON MARCH 23 AND 24 BROUGHT MORE THAN 6 INCHES OF SNOW TO THE CITY. IT DIDN`T LAST LONG, THOUGH, AS MILD SPRING WEATHER MELTED IT OFF PRETTY QUICKLY. THE NEXT SIGNIFICANT PRECIPITATION CAME AT THE BEGINNING OF APRIL WHEN MORE THAN 1.5 INCHES OF RAIN FELL ON APRIL 2 AND 3. THE TEMPERATURE WARMED UP TO 60 DEGREES ON APRIL 6, BUT THIS WOUND UP BEING THE WARMEST TEMPERATURE PORTLAND WOULD SEE FOR THE NEXT FOUR WEEKS AS A SERIES OF COLD FRONTS BROUGHT COLD AIR INTO THE AREA. AS RAIN ARRIVED ON APRIL 9 THE TEMPERATURE COOLED AND QUICKLY CHANGED RAIN TO A HEAVY WET SNOW DURING THE AFTERNOON WITH 3 INCHES ACCUMULATING. A BRIEF WARM UP BROUGHT ANOTHER INCH OF RAIN ON APRIL 13, BUT COOL WEATHER QUICKLY RETURNED. THE NEXT TWO WEEKS SAW COOL CONDITIONS WITH OCCASIONAL RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS AS A SHIFT IN THE JET STREAM PATTERN FAVORED PERSISTENT TROUGHS OVER THE EASTERN UNITED STATES. MORE RAIN CAME ON MAY 1 WITH NEARLY AN INCH FALLING. BUT AFTER A FEW MILD DAYS, THE COOL WEATHER RETURNED. RAIN AND SNOW FELL ON MAY 9, AND ALTHOUGH THE SNOW DID NOT ACCUMULATE TO A MEASURABLE DEPTH, IT WAS A RARE SIGHT FOR SO LATE IN THE SEASON. A SERIES OF COLD FRONTS KEPT A COOL, DRY FLOW OF AIR OUT OF CANADA FOR THE NEXT FEW WEEKS WHILE WARM AIR BEGAN BUILDING OVER THE MIDDLE OF THE COUNTRY. OCCASIONALLY THIS WARM AIR WOULD SPILL INTO NEW ENGLAND. THIS HAPPENED ON MAY 22 WHEN THE TEMPERATURE SOARED TO 85 DEGREES BEFORE ANOTHER COLD FRONT BROUGHT COOL CONDITIONS AGAIN. A LONGER STRETCH OF SUMMER-LIKE WARMTH CAME TOWARD THE END OF MAY WITH THE TEMPERATURE TOPPING 80 DEGREES A FEW MORE TIMES. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE SPRING WAS 45.3 DEGREES WHICH WAS 1.5 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL AND THE 6TH WARMEST SPRING ON RECORD. THE BEGINNING AND END OF SPRING WERE WARM WHILE THE MIDDLE (APRIL) WAS COOL. THE WARMEST SPRING 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 AT PORTLAND. WARMEST AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR SPRING (SINCE 1941)... RANK TEMP SEASON 1 48.8 2010 2 48.2 2012 3 47.0 1991 4 46.4 1998 5 45.4 1991 6 45.3 2020 <=== 7 45.2 1942 8 45.1 2016 45.1 1945 10 45.0 1999 A TOTAL OF 10.79 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION FELL WHICH IS 1.78 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. THE HEAVIEST PRECIPITATION FELL ON APRIL 2 AND 3 WHEN 1.65 INCHES OF RAIN FELL. THE DRIEST SPRING WAS IN 1965 WHEN ONLY 4.23 INCHES WAS RECORDED. THE WETTEST WAS IN 1983 WITH 22.55 INCHES. A TOTAL OF 9.1 INCHES OF SNOW FELL WHICH WAS 6.4 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. THE HEAVIEST SNOW WAS ON MARCH 23 AND 24 WHEN 6.1 INCHES FELL. THE SNOWIEST SPRING WAS IN 1993 WHEN 60.1 INCHES WAS RECORDED. THE LEAST SNOWY WAS IN 2010 WITH ONLY 0.1 INCHES. THE FOLLOWING DAILY RECORDS WERE SET OR TIED IN SPRING 2020... DATE RECORD PREVIOUS MAR 3 61 - WARMEST HIGH TEMPERATURE 55 IN 1961 MAR 3 47 - WARMEST AVERAGE TEMPERATURE 45 IN 2002 MAR 4 36 - WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 35 IN 1974 MAR 9 70 - WARMEST HIGH TEMPERATURE 66 IN 2016 MAR 9 54 - WARMEST AVERAGE TEMPERATURE 53 IN 2016 MAR 20 37 - WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 37 IN 2012 AND OTHERS (TIED) APR 3 43 - WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 42 IN 2000 APR 3 4 - SMALLEST TEMPERATURE RANGE 4 IN 2004 AND OTHERS (TIED) APR 9 1.33 - GREATEST PRECIPITATION 1.28 IN 1916 APR 27 42 - COOLEST HIGH TEMPERATURE 42 IN 1955 (TIED) APR 27 3 - SMALLEST TEMPERATURE RANGE 3 IN 1973 AND 1955 (TIED) MAY 28 74 - WARMEST AVERAGE TEMPERATURE 72 IN 2015, 1959, 1944 $$ KIMBLE