Northern Maine Autumn 2012 Summary

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NOUS41 KCAR 121450
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MEZ001-002-006-015-121900-

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CARIBOU ME
950 AM EST WED DEC 12 2012

...CLIMATE DATA FOR THE FALL OF 2012 IN NORTHERN MAINE...

THIS IS A SEASONAL SUMMARY FOR THE METEOROLOGICAL FALL
(SEPTEMBER...OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER) OF 2012 FOR NORTHERN MAINE AS
MEASURED AT CARIBOU AND BANGOR.

THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE DURING THE FALL OF 2012 AT CARIBOU WAS 45.1
DEGREES...WHICH WAS 1.8 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. IT TIED WITH 1953 AND
1979 AS THE 8TH WARMEST FALL IN THE PAST 74 YEARS OF WEATHER
RECORDS. AT BANGOR...THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 47.2 DEGREES WAS 8
TENTHS OF A DEGREE BELOW THE 30-YEAR AVERAGE.  IT TIED WITH 1956 AND
1958 AS THE 31ST COOLEST FALL IN THE PAST 87 YEARS.

THE COLDEST FALL ON RECORD IN CARIBOU WAS IN 1976 WITH AN AVERAGE
TEMPERATURE OF 38.7 DEGREES.  THE MILDEST FALL OCCURRED JUST LAST
YEAR IN 2011 WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 47.8 DEGREES.

AT BANGOR...THE COOLEST FALL ON RECORD OCCURRED IN 1940 WITH AN
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 44 DEGREES.  THE MILDEST FALL WAS OBSERVED IN
1948 WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 55 DEGREES.

AT CARIBOU...TEMPERATURES IN SEPTEMBER AVERAGED 1.8 DEGREES ABOVE
NORMAL.  TEMPERATURES IN OCTOBER AVERAGED 3.9 DEGREES ABOVE
NORMAL...AND THE MONTH ENDED UP AS THE 7TH WARMEST OCTOBER ON
RECORD.  NOVEMBER WAS THE FIRST MONTH AT CARIBOU SINCE APRIL OF 2011
WITH BELOW AVERAGE TEMPERATURES.

AT BANGOR...TEMPERATURES IN SEPTEMBER AVERAGED 1.5 DEGREES BELOW
NORMAL.  TEMPERATURES IN OCTOBER AVERAGED 2.9 DEGREES ABOVE
NORMAL...AND NOVEMBER ENDED UP 3.6 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL MAKING IT
THE 9TH COLDEST NOVEMBER ON RECORD AND THE COLDEST NOVEMBER SINCE
1997. 

THE FIRST FREEZING TEMPERATURES OF FALL WERE OBSERVED AT CARIBOU ON
SEPTEMBER 28TH...WHICH IS VERY CLOSE TO THE AVERAGE DATE OF THE FIRST
FREEZE.  AT BANGOR...THE FIRST FREEZING TEMPERATURE WAS OBSERVED ON
OCTOBER 13TH...WHICH IS ABOUT A WEEK LATER THAN AVERAGE. 

THE COLDEST TEMPERATURE DURING THE 3-MONTH PERIOD WAS OBSERVED ON
THE LAST DAY OF NOVEMBER AT BOTH CARIBOU AND BANGOR WHEN THE LOW
TEMPERATURE DROPPED TO 5 DEGREES AND 8 DEGREES RESPECTIVELY.  SOME
OF THE NORMAL COLD VALLEY AREAS IN THE NORTH DROPPED BELOW ZERO ON
THE 30TH.  THE WARMEST TEMPERATURE THIS PAST FALL WAS OBSERVED ON
SEPTEMBER 13TH WHEN THE HIGH TEMPERATURE WAS 83 DEGREES AT CARIBOU
AND 80 AT BANGOR.

AT CARIBOU...A RECORD WARM MINIMUM TEMPERATURE WAS OBSERVED ON
OCTOBER 20TH.  THE LOW OF 50 DEGREES SURPASSED THE PREVIOUS RECORD
WARM MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 49 DEGREES IN 2006 AND 2007.  ANOTHER
RECORD WARM MINIMUM TEMPERATURE RECORD WAS ESTABLISHED ON NOVEMBER
1ST.  THE LOW OF 46 DEGREES BROKE THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 45 DEGREES
SET IN 1957. ON NOVEMBER 14TH THE HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 61 DEGREES
BROKE THE OLD RECORD HIGH FOR THE DATE OF 60 DEGREES...WHICH WAS SET
IN 1982.

AT BANGOR...A RECORD WARM MINIMUM TEMPERATURE WAS OBSERVED ON
OCTOBER 20TH.  THE LOW OF 57 DEGREES SURPASSED THE PREVIOUS RECORD
WARM MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 56 IN 1928. ANOTHER RECORD WARM MINIMUM
TEMPERATURE WAS ESTABLISHED ON THE 30TH.  THE LOW TEMPERATURE OF 57
DEGREES SMASHED THE PREVIOUS RECORD WARM MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 48
SET IN 1935. IT WAS ALSO THE WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE EVER OBSERVED
DURING THE LAST WEEK OF OCTOBER IN THE PAST 87 YEARS OF WEATHER
RECORDS AT BANGOR. A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE WAS SET AT BANGOR ON
NOVEMBER 13TH.  THE HIGH OF 66 DEGREES BROKE THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF
60 WHICH WAS SET IN 1940.

IN TERMS OF PRECIPITATION...A TOTAL OF 8.68 INCHES OF RAIN (AND
MELTED SNOW) FELL AT CARIBOU DURING THE THREE MONTH PERIOD WHICH WAS
NEARLY 2 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. IT WAS THE DRIEST FALL SINCE 2004 AND
RANKED AS THE 22ND DRIEST FALL SINCE WEATHER RECORDS BEGAN IN 1939.
ONLY 67 HUNDREDTHS OF AN INCH OF RAIN (AND MELTED SNOW) WAS OBSERVED
DURING NOVEMBER 2012 MAKING IT THE 2ND DRIEST NOVEMBER ON RECORD
ONLY BEHIND 1939.  SNOWFALL WAS ALSO NOTICEABLY ABSENT WITH ONLY 1.6
INCHES OBSERVED DURING THE ENTIRE MONTH...WHICH WAS NEARLY 9 INCHES
BELOW NORMAL...AND MADE NOVEMBER 2012 THE SECOND LEAST SNOWIEST ON
RECORD BEHIND ONLY 1960 WHEN 1.5 INCHES WAS OBSERVED. 

AT BANGOR...14.42 INCHES OF RAIN (AND MELTED SNOW) WAS OBSERVED
DURING THE 3-MONTH PERIOD...WHICH WAS NEARLY 2 1/2 INCHES ABOVE
NORMAL.  A TOTAL OF 6.33 INCHES OF RAIN WAS OBSERVED IN SEPTEMBER
MAKING IT THE 8TH WETTEST SEPTEMBER ON RECORD. A TOTAL OF 6.96
INCHES OF RAIN WAS OBSERVED IN OCTOBER...WHICH MADE IT THE 5TH
WETTEST OCTOBER ON RECORD.  FOUR OF THE 5 WETTEST OCTOBERS HAVE BEEN
OBSERVED SINCE 2003. THE WET PATTERN ENDED IN NOVEMBER WHEN ONLY
1.13 INCHES OF RAIN (AND MELTED SNOW WAS OBSERVED) WAS ALL MONTH. 
MOST OF THE MONTHLY PRECIPITATION OCCURRED ON THE 8TH WHEN 89
HUNDREDTHS OF AN INCH OF RAIN (WHICH INCLUDED 3.7 INCHES OF SNOW)
FELL.  NOVEMBER OF 2012 WAS THE DRIEST NOVEMBER SINCE 1978 AND
RANKED AS THE 4TH DRIEST NOVEMBER ON RECORD.  FOUR INCHES OF SNOW
FELL DURING THE MONTH...WHICH WAS 1.7 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL. 

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THESE DATA ARE PRELIMINARY AND HAVE NOT UNDERGONE FINAL QUALITY
CONTROL BY THE NATIONAL CLIMATIC DATA CENTER (NCDC). THEREFORE,
THESE DATA ARE SUBJECT TO REVISION. FINAL AND CERTIFIED CLIMATE DATA
CAN BE ACCESSED AT THE NCDC -
HTTP://WWW.NCDC.NOAA.GOV.

$$

CB/VJN