...A STATISTICAL PREVIEW OF CARIBOU'S (Northern Maine) MARCH WEATHER...

DURING THE MONTH OF MARCH THE AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE CLIMBS FROM 29 DEGREES ON THE 1ST TO 40 BY THE END OF THE MONTH. THE AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE WHICH DROPPED TO FREEZING IN LATE NOVEMBER FINALLY CLIMBS BACK ABOVE FREEZING ON MARCH 13TH. THE AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE RISES FROM 9 ABOVE ZERO ON THE 1ST TO 22 BY THE END OF THE MONTH.

THE WARMEST TEMPERATURE EVER OBSERVED DURING THE MONTH OF MARCH WAS 75 DEGREES ON MARCH 21, 2012. THE COLDEST TEMPERATURE EVER OBSERVED IN MARCH WAS 28 BELOW ON MARCH 2, 2001.

AN AVERAGE OF 18.3 INCHES OF SNOW FALLS DURING THE MONTH OF MARCH. OVER THE YEARS MARCH SNOWFALL HAS RANGED FROM ONLY 1.4 INCHES IN 2006 TO 47.1 INCHES IN 1955. THE GREATEST CALENDAR DAY SNOWFALL EVER OBSERVED OCCURRED IN THE MONTH OF MARCH WHEN 28.6 INCHES OF SNOW WAS OBSERVED ON MARCH 14, 1984. THERE HAVE BEEN 3 TIMES SINCE THE WINTER OF 1939-1940 DURING THE MONTH OF MARCH WHEN THE MONTHLY SNOWFALL EXCEEDED 40 INCHES.

ON AVERAGE THERE ARE 5 DAYS IN MARCH WITH A SNOWFALL OF 1 INCH OF MORE, 2 DAYS WITH A SNOWFALL OF 3 INCHES OF MORE, AND 1 DAY WITH A SNOWFALL OF 6 INCHES OR GREATER. THE GREATEST CALENDAR DAY SNOWFALL OF 20.8 INCHES WAS OBSERVED ON FEBRUARY 2, 2003.

IN ALMOST ALL YEARS THERE IS A CONTINUOUS SNOW PACK DURING THE MONTH OF MARCH. THE WINTER SNOW PACK TYPICALLY REACHES ITS GREATEST DEPTH AT THE END OF FEBRUARY AND BEGINS TO DIMINISH DURING THE 2ND HALF OF MARCH. THE AVERAGE SNOW DEPTH IS 18 INCHES AT THE START OF THE MONTH AND 9 INCHES AT THE END OF THE MONTH. IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT NEARBY WOODED AREAS HAVE A SNOW PACK THAT CAN EASILY BE TWICE WHAT IS OBSERVED AT THE AIRPORT WHERE MUCH OF THE SNOW TENDS TO BLOW AWAY. THE GREATEST SNOW DEPTH EVER OBSERVED DURING THE MONTH OF MARCH WAS 51 INCHES ON MARCH 6, 1977.

MARCH: CARIBOU’S TOP 5 WARMEST (AVERAGE TEMPERATURES):
32.3 DEGREES 1977
31.9 2010
31.8 1958
31.8 1979
31.5 2012

MARCH: CARIBOU’S TOP 5 COLDEST (AVERAGE TEMPERATURES):
15.3 DEGREES 1939
17.4 IN 1967
17.5 1943
17.9 1948
18.3 1972 AND 2008

MARCH: CARIBOU’S TOP 5 WETTEST
5.27 INCHES 2008
5.13 1953
4.90 2005
4.72 1972
4.71 1991

MARCH: CARIBOU’S TOP SNOWIEST:
47.1 INCHES 1955
45.2 2008
41.4 1972
39.7 1961
38.6 1971
MARCH: CARIBOU’S TOP 5 DRIEST
0.66 INCHES 1965
0.80 2006
1.07 1967
1.11 1952
1.16 1990

…MARCH STATISTICS…
….TEMPERATURES (1981-2010 NORMALS)
AVERAGE HIGH……………………….....................................33.9
AVERAGE LOW………...........................................................15.2
MONTHLY AVERAGE…………………………………………..24.5
AVERAGE # OF DAYS W/HIGHS< 32F……………………...12 (11.6)
AVERAGE # OF DAYS W/LOWS < 32F……………………..29 (29.3)
AVERAGE # OF DAYS W/LOWS< 10F……………………...10
AVERAGE # OF DAYS W/LOWS< 0F……..………………...4

…PRECIPITATION…
MONTHLY AVERAGE………………………………………….....2.51 INCHES
AVERAGE DAYS WITH MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION…..13 (12.6)
LARGEST 24 HOUR RAINFALL……………………..…………..2.42 INCHES, 2011
AVERAGE SNOWFALL…………………………………………..18.3 INCHES
MOST SNOWFALL………………………………………………..47.1 INCHES, 1955
LEAST SNOWFALL……………………………………………….1.4 INCHES, 2006
AVERAGE # OF DAYS W/SNOWFALL > 1 INCH………….….5 (4.5)
AVERAGE # OF DAYS W/SNOWFALL > 3 INCHES…………2
AVERAGE # OF DAYS W/SNOWFALL > 6 INCHES…………1

…MISCELLANEOUS MARCH AVERAGES…
NORMAL HEATING DEGREE DAYS………………………..…1254
NORMAL COOLING DEGREE DAYS……………………….…0
MEAN WIND SPEED……………………………………………..9.2 MPH
AVERAGE NUMBER OF DAYS W/DENSE FOG…………..…3
MEAN NUMBER OF CLOUDY DAYS………………………….17

…SUNRISE AND SUNSET…
MARCH 1ST………………………………………………..……….6:12 AM/5:18 PM
MARCH 31ST .…………………………………………….……….6:13 AM/7:00 PM
GAIN OF DAYLIGHT……………………………………….……..1 HOUR & 41 MINUTES
DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME BEGINS……………………..…….SUNDAY, MARCH 9TH

February 2014 Climate Summary for northern and eastern Maine

FEBRUARY 2014 FINISHED WITH SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND ABOVE NORMAL SNOWFALL. IT WAS THE COLDEST FEBRUARY AT CARIBOU AND BANGOR SINCE 2007.

TEMPERATURES AVERAGED FROM 1 TO 3 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL ACROSS MOST OF NORTHERN AND EASTERN MAINE. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE AT CARIBOU OF 12.8 DEGREES WAS 1.4 DEGREES BELOW THE 1981-2010 AVERAGE TEMPERATURE. AT BANGOR...THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 18 DEGREES WAS 2.8 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. UNLIKE JANUARY WHEN THERE WERE WILD SWINGS OF ABOVE AND BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES FEBRUARY FEATURED SHORTER AND LESS INTENSE SWINGS OF ABOVE AND BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES. THERE WERE NO NEW TEMPERATURE RECORDS ESTABLISHED AT EITHER CARIBOU OR BANGOR THIS PAST FEBRUARY.

THE HIGH TEMPERATURE THIS PAST FEBRUARY AT BANGOR WAS 47 DEGREES ON THE 22ND. THE LOW 13 BELOW WAS OBSERVED ON THE 18TH. AT CARIBOU...THE HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 41 DEGREES WAS OBSERVED ON THE 22ND...AND THE LOW OF 17 BELOW WAS OBSERVED ON THE 18TH.

LIQUID PRECIPITATION (RAIN AND MELTED SNOW) ACROSS NORTHERN AND EASTERN MAINE WAS CLOSE TO NORMAL WITH ABOVE NORMAL SNOWFALL IN MANY AREAS. AT CARIBOU A TOTAL OF 27.3 INCHES OF SNOW WAS OBSERVED...WHICH WAS 5.1 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL. AT BANGOR...A TOTAL OF 25.2 INCHES OF SNOW WAS OBSERVED...WHICH WAS 10.5 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL.

THE TWO BIGGEST SNOWFALL EVENTS OCCURRED BACK-TO-BACK ON FEBRUARY 13TH-14TH AND FEBRUARY 15TH-16TH. THE FIRST EVENT PRODUCED OVER A FOOT OF SNOW IN MUCH OF WASHINGTON AND HANCOCK COUNTIES WITH AMOUNTS DROPPING OFF RAPIDLY TO THE NORTH. THE SECOND STORM PRODUCED MORE WIDESPREAD AMOUNTS OF 6 TO 12 INCHES ACROSS NORTHERN AND EASTERN MAINE.

THE MONTH BEGAN WITH A SNOW PACK ON ONLY A COUPLE OF INCHES DOWNEAST AND 12 TO 18 INCHES ACROSS MUCH OF NORTHERN MAINE. THE SNOW PACK INCREASED DURING FEBRUARY...AND BY THE END OF THE MONTH THE SNOW PACK RANGED FROM 6 TO 12 INCHES DOWNEAST AND MOSTLY FROM 18 TO 30 INCHES ACROSS NORTHERN MAINE WITH LOCAL AMOUNTS IN EXCESS OF 3 FEET ACROSS THE NORTH MAINE WOODS.

LIKE THE PAST COUPLE OF MONTHS THE AVERAGE WIND SPEED WAS BELOW NORMAL WITH NO BLIZZARDS OR HIGH WIND EVENTS. THE AVERAGE WIND SPEED AT CARIBOU WAS 7.2 MPH AND AT BANGOR WAS 6.7 MPH. THE PEAK WIND SPEED FOR THE MONTH AT CARIBOU WAS 40 MPH ON THE 17TH. THE PEAK WIND SPEED AT BANGOR THIS PAST FEBRUARY WAS 38 MPH ON THE 16TH.

THE OUTLOOK FROM THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER INDICATES AN INCREASED LIKELIHOOD OF BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES THIS MARCH. THERE ARE NO STRONG CLIMATE SIGNALS THAT WOULD TILT THE ODDS TOWARDS AN UNUSUALLY WET (SNOWY) OR DRY MONTH. DAYLIGHT INCREASES RAPIDLY WITH A NEARLY 2 HOUR INCREASE IN AVAILABLE DAYLIGHT DURING THE MONTH OF MARCH. DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME BEGINS ON SUNDAY, MARCH 9TH.