June 2013 Climate Summary for northern and eastern Maine

NORTHERN AND EASTERN MAINE MONTHLY CLIMATE NARRATIVE:

JUNE 2013 WILL BE REMEMBERED AS A WET MONTH. A TOTAL OF 6.06 INCHES OF RAIN WAS OBSERVED AT CARIBOU MAKING IT THE 5TH WETTEST JUNE ON RECORD. FOUR OF THE TOP 5 WETTEST JUNES HAVE BEEN OBSERVED SINCE 2010. AT BANGOR A TOTAL OF 5.46 INCHES OF RAIN FELL...WHICH MADE IT THE 9TH WETTEST JUNE ON RECORD. RAINFALL RANGED FROM 130 TO 200 PERCENT OF NORMAL ACROSS MOST OF NORTHERN AND EASTERN MAINE...BUT LOCALLY WAS IN EXCESS OF 200 PERCENT OF NORMAL ACROSS FAR NORTHEAST MAINE AND IN COASTAL WASHINGTON COUNTY.

THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE THIS PAST JUNE AT CARIBOU WAS 59.6 DEGREES...WHICH WAS 1.1 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. IT WAS THE COOLEST JUNE AT CARIBOU SINCE 2004. AT BANGOR THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 63.3 DEGREES WAS EXACTLY ON THE MARK FOR THE 30-YEAR AVERAGE. TEMPERATURES RANGED FROM 1 TO 2 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL ACROSS NORTHERN MAINE AND FROM 0 TO 2 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL ACROSS DOWNEAST MAINE.

THE HIGH TEMPERATURE THIS PAST JUNE AT CARIBOU WAS 86 DEGREES ON THE 25TH AND THE LOW WAS 38 DEGREES ON THE 6TH. AT BANGOR TEMPERATURES RANGED FROM A HIGH OF 90 DEGREES ON THE 1ST AND 25TH TO A LOW OF 42 DEGREES ON THE 6TH. A FEW OF THE NORMAL COLD SPOTS ACROSS NORTHERN AND WESTERN MAINE HAD A LIGHT FROST DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS OF THE 6TH. ESTCOURT STATION EVEN HAD A HARD FREEZE WITH A LOW OF 28 DEGREES.

THERE WERE ONLY 3 DAYS WITH A HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 80 DEGREE OR WARMER AT CARIBOU...WHICH COMPARES TO AN AVERAGE OF 6 DAYS DURING THE MONTH OF JUNE. AT BANGOR THERE WERE 6 DAYS WITH A HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 80 DEGREES OR WARMER...WHICH COMPARES TO A NORMAL OF 8. THE TEMPERATURE HIT 90 DEGREES ON TWO DAYS...WHICH IS ONE MORE THAN NORMAL.

THE 27TH AND 28TH WERE UNUSUALLY COOL DAYS ACROSS FAR NORTHERN MAINE WITH A HIGH OF 56 DEGREES AT CARIBOU ON BOTH DAYS. THE HIGH OF 56 ON THE 27TH TIED A RECORD FROM 1950 FOR THE LOWEST HIGH TEMPERATURE EVER OBSERVED ON THAT DATE. THE HIGH OF 56 DEGREES ON THE 28TH ESTABLISHED A NEW RECORD LOW MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE ON THAT DATE...WHICH BROKE THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 58 SET IN 2010.

THE MOST SIGNIFICANT WEATHER EVENT WAS A SEVERE WEATHER OUTBREAK DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING OF THE 2ND. THERE WERE 58 REPORTS OF WIND DAMAGE...LARGE HAIL AND FLASH FLOODING ACROSS NORTHERN AND EASTERN MAINE. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE CONDUCTED A DAMAGE SURVEY ON THE 3RD AND DETERMINED THAT A WEAK EF-0 TORNADO BRIEFLY TOUCHED DOWN IN THE EAGLE LAKE AREA OF NORTHERN MAINE.

THUNDER WAS OBSERVED AT CARIBOU ON 6 DAYS....WHICH COMPARES TO AN AVERAGE OF 5 DAYS. AT BANGOR...THUNDER WAS OBSERVED ON ONLY 1 DAY...WHICH IS AVERAGE FOR THE MONTH OF JUNE. THE PEAK WIND GUST THIS PAST JUNE AT CARIBOU WAS 33 MPH OUT OF THE NORTH ON THE 25TH. AT BANGOR THE PEAK WIND GUST OF 36 MPH OUT OF THE NORTH/NORTHWEST WAS OBSERVED ON THE 15TH.

THE OUTLOOK FOR JULY FROM THE CLIMATE PREDICATION CENTER INDICATES AN INCREASED LIKELIHOOD OF ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES. THERE ARE NO STRONG CLIMATE SIGNALS THAT TILT THE ODDS IN FAVOR OF EITHER AN UNUSUALLY DRY OR WET JULY. AT CARIBOU (BANGOR) THE AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURES FOR THE YEAR PEAK AT 76 (80) DURING MID-LATE JULY. THE AVERAGE LOWS ARE IN THE MID 50S AT CARIBOU AND IN THE MID/UPPER 50S AT BANGOR. JULY IS TYPICALLY THE WETTEST MONTH OF THE YEAR AT CARIBOU WITH AVERAGE PRECIPITATION OF 4.08 INCHES. AT BANGOR AN AVERAGE OF 3.46 INCHES OF RAIN IS OBSERVED DURING THE MONTH OF JULY. THE DAYS BEGIN TO BECOME JUST A BIT SHORTER WITH A LOSS OF JUST UNDER AN HOUR OF DAYLIGHT BY THE END OF THE MONTH.