September 2014 Climate Summary for northern and eastern Maine

...Northern and eastern Maine monthly area climate narrative for September 2014...

September 2014 featured near average temperatures across northern
and eastern Maine despite some wild temperature swings during the
month.  Precipitation was below normal, and across central and
Down East Maine was well below normal and ranged from only 25 to 50
percent of normal.

At Caribou, the average temperature of 55.8 degrees was 8 tenths of
a degree (0.8F) above normal.  It was the coolest September
since 2009.  At Bangor, the average temperature of 59.2 degrees was
just 4 tenths of a degree (0.4F) above normal.

The month began on a warm note with well above normal temperatures
during the first several days of the month.  There was a cool snap
toward the middle of the month that produced 8 consecutive days with
highs only in the 50s across much of far northern Maine. It was the
most consecutive days with highs only in the 50s so early in the
season at Caribou.  There was another surge of warm weather toward
the end of the month that produced a high of 84 degrees at Caribou
on the 28th.  Not only did this smash the daily temperature record
of 77 degrees set back in 1946, it was also the warmest temperature
ever observed so late in the season at many long term climate sites
across northern Maine.  Much below normal temperatures followed on
the last day of the month when areas in the Saint John Valley had
highs only in the 40s.

Some of the normal cold spots across northern Maine had frost as
early as the 2nd week of September, and Estcourt Station even had a
hard freeze on the morning of the 8th with a low of 28 degrees. The
first freeze of the season occurred on the 18th at Caribou when the
temperature fell to 31F, which was about a week earlier than
average.  At Bangor, the first freeze was obsrved on the 19th when
the low temperature was 30 degrees.  This was about 2 weeks earlier
than average.

Rainfall was well below normal, and not far from the all-time driest
September across parts of central and Down East Maine. Bangor
observed only 0.89" of rain this past september, which made it the
3rd driest September on record behind only the driest September in
1929 with 0.64", and 1948 with 0.74" of rain.  Rainfall across
northern Maine was below average, and ranged from 50 to 80 percent
of normal.  At Caribou there was a total of 2.59", which made it
the driest September since 2009.

Thunder was observed at Bangor on the 1st of the month, and no
thunder was observed this past September at Caribou.  Dense fog which reduced the
visibility to 1/4 mile or less was observed at Bangor on 5 days and
on 2 days at Caribou.

The leaves reached their peak colors across far northern Maine by
the last week of the month, with moderate amounts of color toward
the Down East coast by the end of the month.

The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for the month of
October for our region calls for an increased likelihood of above
normal temperatures.  There are no strong climate signals that would
point toward an unusually wet or dry October.  The average
temperatures have their greatest drop off during the month of
October.  At Caribou (Bangor), the average high temperature falls
from 59 (64) to 45 (52).  The average low temperatures at Caribou
(Bangor) fall from 39 (42) to 30 (33).  Just over 1 1/2 hours of
daylight is lost during the month of October.