Climatological Report (Monthly)
Issued by NWS Caribou, ME
Issued by NWS Caribou, ME
000 CXUS51 KCAR 052032 CLMCAR CLIMATE REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CARIBOU ME 433 PM EDT FRI MAY 05 2023 ................................... ...THE CARIBOU ME CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH OF APRIL 2023... CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD: 1991 TO 2020 CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD: 1939 TO 2023 WEATHER OBSERVED NORMAL DEPART LAST YEAR`S VALUE DATE(S) VALUE FROM VALUE DATE(S) NORMAL ................................................................ TEMPERATURE (F) RECORD HIGH 86 04/27/1990 LOW -4 04/06/2015 HIGHEST 67 04/28 MM MM 56 04/25 04/29 LOWEST 10 04/03 MM MM 17 04/06 AVG. MAXIMUM 50.9 47.7 3.2 46.8 AVG. MINIMUM 30.6 29.4 1.2 30.8 MEAN 40.8 38.5 2.3 38.8 DAYS MAX >= 90 0 0.0 0.0 0 DAYS MAX <= 32 0 1.1 -1.1 0 DAYS MIN <= 32 15 20.7 -5.7 17 DAYS MIN <= 0 0 0.1 -0.1 0 PRECIPITATION (INCHES) RECORD MAXIMUM 6.19 2005 MINIMUM 0.54 1967 TOTALS 1.18 -1.81 DAILY AVG. 0.04 0.10 -0.06 0.12 DAYS >= .01 7 13.1 -6.1 17 DAYS >= .10 3 7.5 -4.5 10 DAYS >= .50 0 2.0 -2.0 3 DAYS >= 1.00 0 0.2 -0.2 0 GREATEST 24 HR. TOTAL 0.51 04/17 TO 04/18 0.67 04/27 TO 04/28 SNOWFALL (INCHES) RECORDS TOTAL 36.4 1982 TOTALS 3.7 8.3 -4.6 4.1 SINCE 7/1 133.4 117.4 16.0 MM SNOWDEPTH AVG. 7 3 DAYS >= 1.0 2 2.5 -0.5 1 GREATEST SNOW DEPTH 18* 04/03 16 04/01 04/04 04/06 24 HR TOTAL 3.7* MM DEGREE DAYS HEATING TOTAL 719 794 -75 777 SINCE 7/1 7629 8498 -869 MM COOLING TOTAL 0 0 0 0 SINCE 1/1 0 0 0 MM ................................................................ WIND (MPH) AVERAGE WIND SPEED 7.5 HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 29/330 DATE 04/02 HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 41/310 DATE 04/02 SKY COVER POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT) MM AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.49 NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR 11 NUMBER OF DAYS PC 11 NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY 8 AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 63 WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH THUNDERSTORM 0 MIXED PRECIP 0 HEAVY RAIN 1 RAIN 1 LIGHT RAIN 13 FREEZING RAIN 0 LT FREEZING RAIN 2 HAIL 0 HEAVY SNOW 1 SNOW 3 LIGHT SNOW 6 SLEET 1 FOG 7 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 3 HAZE 1 - INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS. * INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED. MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING. T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT. && ...APRIL 2023 CLIMATE NARRATIVE FOR NORTHERN/EASTERN MAINE... APRIL 2023 WAS WARMER THAN AVERAGE WITH BELOW AVERAGE PRECIPITATION AND BELOW AVERAGE SNOWFALL. THE REGION AS A WHOLE AVERAGED FROM 1.5 TO 3 DEGREES ABOVE THE 1991- 2020 AVERAGES. THE MONTH BEGAN ON A COOL NOTE WITH TEMPERATURES MOSTLY BELOW AVERAGE THE FIRST 9 DAYS OF THE MONTH. TEMPERATURES FROM THE 10TH AND THROUGH THE END OF THE MONTH WERE MOSTLY ABOVE AVERAGE WITH ONLY A HANDFUL OF DAYS WITH SLIGHTLY BELOW AVERAGE TEMPERATURES. THE FIRST REAL MILD DAY OCCURRED ON THE 10TH WITH A HIGH OF 60 DEGREES IN CARIBOU AND 63F AT BANGOR. THE MONTH ENDED WITH A TOTAL OF 7 DAYS WITH A HIGH IN THE 60S AT CARIBOU, AND 10 DAYS WITH A HIGH OF 60 OR WARMER AT BANGOR INCLUDING A RECORD HIGH OF 76 DEGREES ON THE 14TH. TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH RANGED FROM 30 TO 75 PERCENT OF AVERAGE, EXCEPT ACROSS PARTS OF THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS WHERE PRECIPITATION RANGED FROM 75 TO 90 PERCENT OF NORMAL. IN CARIBOU, ONLY 1.18 INCHES OF RAIN (AND MELTED SNOW) WAS OBSERVED, WHICH RANKED AS THE 9TH DRIEST APRIL ON RECORD. IN HOULTON 1.48 INCHES OF RAIN (AND MELTED SNOW) WAS OBSERVED MAKING IT THE 11TH DRIEST APRIL ON RECORD. IN BANGOR, 1.89 INCHES OF RAIN AND MELTED SNOW RANKED AS THE 13TH DRIEST APRIL ON RECORD. SNOWFALL WAS WELL BELOW AVERAGE WITH NEARLY ALL OF THE SNOWFALL OBSERVED DURING THE FIRST WEEK OF THE MONTH. IN CARIBOU, ONLY 3.7 INCHES OF SNOW WAS OBSERVED, AND IN BANGOR ONLY AN INCH. IN CARIBOU, IT WAS THE LEAST SNOWY APRIL SINCE 2016. AT THE START OF THE MONTH, THE SNOW DEPTH RANGED FROM 18 TO 44 INCHES ACROSS AROOSTOOK COUNTY WITH THE HIGHEST AMOUNTS ACROSS THE HIGHER TERRAIN TO THE WEST OF CARIBOU. THERE WAS 3 INCHES OF SNOW ON THE GROUND AT MILLINOCKET, AND LITTLE TO NO SNOW WAS OBSERVED IN BANGOR AND ALONG THE COAST. BY THE END OF APRIL, ONLY THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF NORTHWEST MAINE HAD ANY SNOW LEFT ON THE GROUND WITH 6 TO 12 INCHES IN THE SHELTERED WOODS. THE ICE WENT OUT ON THE NORTHERN RIVERS AROUND MID-MONTH AND OVERALL WAS VERY BENIGN WITH LOCAL ROAD FLOODING OF LOW SPOTS AROUND FORT FAIRFIELD. THERE WAS SOME MINOR FLOODING IN PARTS OF AROOSTOOK COUNTY ON THE 18TH-19TH DUE TO THE COMBINATION OF RAINFALL AND SNOWMELT. THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER`S OUTLOOK FOR THE MONTH OF MAY 2023 INDICATES THAT ABOVE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES ARE FAVORED. THERE ARE NO STRONG CLIMATE SIGNALS THAT POINT TOWARD IT BEING UNUSUALLY WET OR DRY. NORMAL MAY TEMPERATURES FOR THE 1991-2020 PERIOD INDICATE THAT THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES RISE SIGNIFICANTLY DURING THE MONTH. AT THE START OF THE MONTH, THE AVERAGE HIGHS ARE IN THE MID 50S ACROSS THE NORTH AND IN THE LOW 60S IN BANGOR. BY THE END OF THE MONTH, THE AVERAGE HIGHS RISE TO UPPER 60S IN THE NORTH AND TO NEAR 70F IN BANGOR AND DOWNEAST. AVERAGE LOWS CLIMB FROM THE MID TO UPPER 30S IN THE NORTH AT THE START OF THE MONTH TO THE MID 40S BY MONTHS END. IN BANGOR, THE AVERAGE LOWS RISE FROM THE UPPER 30S TO THE UPPER 40S BY THE END OF THE MONTH. IN CARIBOU, AN AVERAGE OF 3.46 INCHES OF RAIN IS OBSERVED, INCLUDING 0.8" OF SNOW. IN BANGOR, 3.34 INCHES OF RAIN IS OBSERVED ON AVERAGE WITH NO SNOW. FROST CAN OCCUR AT ANY TIME OF THE MONTH ACROSS THE NORTHERN VALLEYS, BUT BECOMES LESS COMMON BY MID TO LATE MONTH ACROSS THE DOWNEAST REGION. $$ CB/VJN