...Northern and eastern Maine monthly area climate narrative...
...Snowiest November on record at Bangor...
...3rd snowiest November at Caribou...
November 2014 featured below normal temperatures and well above
normal snowfall across northern and eastern Maine.
Temperatures averaged from nearly 2 to 4 degrees below normal. At
Caribou, the average temperature of 29.6 degrees was 1.9 degrees
below normal. It was the coldest November since 2007. At
Bangor, the average temperature of 33.5 degrees was 3.4 degrees
below normal. It was the coldest November at Bangor since 1976.
The first sub-zero reports of the season were observed on the
morning of the 29th when several locations across far northern
Maine had lows below zero. Estcourt station was the cold spot
with a low of 8 below.
A total of 3.21 inches of liquid precipitation (rain and melted
snow) was observed at Bangor, which was nearly an inch below
normal. However, nearly all of the precipitation fell in the form
of snow, and it was the snowiest november on record with a total
of 25.9 inches, which was 23.6 inches above normal. This broke
the previous record of 24.6 inches of snow back in 1962.
At Caribou, a total of 3.37 inches of liquid precipitation (rain
and melted snow) was observed, which was just 26 hundredths of
an inch below normal. The majority of the precipitation fell in
the form of snow with a total of 28.8 inches for the month, which
was 18.3 inches above normal. It ranked as the 3rd snowiest
November on record behind only 1949 with 33.2 inches of snow and
1974 with 34.9 inches of snow.
The most significant weather events of the month were a major
winter storm on the 2nd that produced 10 to 15 inches of snow
across much of interior Down East Maine. Amounts dropped off to
only a couple of inches of snow in parts of the Saint John Valley.
It was the earliest double digit calendar day snowfall at Bangor
by nearly 2 weeks, and nearly 3 weeks at Caribou. A second storm
affected mainly northern Maine on the 7th with snowfall amounts
from 3 to 6 inches. Another major storm on the 26th into the 27th
produced widespread snowfall amounts of 8 to 14 inches across much
of the Down East region into northeast Maine.
Nearly all of far northern Maine had at least some snow on the
ground nearly all month. By the end of the month, the snow depth
ranged from 3 to 10 inches across northern and eastern Maine.
The only spots that had little or no snow on the ground at months
end were a few spots along the immediate coast.
The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for the month of
December 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 (snowy) or dry month. The
average high at Caribou falls from 32 on the first to 22 by the
end of the month. The average low drops from 18 on the 1st to 4
above by the end of the month. At Bangor, the average high falls
from 39 on the 1st to 29 on the 31st. The average low drops from
23 on the 1st to 9 above by the end of the month. The average
snowfall in December is 14.4 inches at Bangor and 22.9 inches at
Caribou. The winter solstice this year is on december 21st at 6:03
pm EST.
