February 2015 Climate Summary for northern and eastern Maine

...All time coldest month at Bangor...
...All time coldest February at Caribou...
...4th coldest month on record at Caribou...

The big stories this past February were the all-time record cold
and the record snowfall across parts of Down East Maine.

This past February was the coldest month on record at Bangor
since weather records began in 1926. The average monthly
temperature of 6.1 degrees was 14.7 degrees below normal. It
smashed the previous record cold February of 1993 when the
average temperature was 11.3 degrees. More impressive, it broke
the all-time coldest month on record by more than 2 degrees. The
old record was observed in January 1994 when the average
temperature was 8.4 degrees.

At Caribou, the average temperature this past February was 2.8
degrees, which was 11.3 degrees below normal. It was the coldest
February on record, surpassing 1993 when the average temperature
was 4.1 degrees. It ranked as the 4th coldest month ever behind
only January of 1994 with an average temperature of -0.7
degrees, January 1957 with an average temperature of 1.3
degrees, and January 2009 with an average temperature of 2.5
degrees.

The warmest temperature observed all month at Bangor was 33
degrees, which was the 2nd lowest monthly high temperature ever
observed during the entire month of February. The only time the
high temperature did not climb above freezing at Bangor during the
month of February was in 1978 when the monthly high was 32
degrees.

At Caribou, the high temperature remained below freezing all
month. The high temperature for the month was 28 degrees, which
was the lowest monthly high temperature ever observed during the
month of February. Only 3 times has an entire calendar month had
a lower high temperature, with all 3 occurrences during the
Month of January.

There were a total of 24 nights at Caribou with a low temperature
of zero or lower. This broke the old record of 23 nights set in
February 1948. At Bangor, there were a total of 23 nights with a
low of zero or lower. This broke the record of 16 nights set in
1929 and again in 1934.

Precipitation was well below average across far northern Maine,
and ranged from only 20 to 50 percent of normal across far
Northern maine. Precipitation was above average across much of
Down East Maine, and was in excess of 200 percent of normal
across parts of coastal Hancock and coastal Washington counties.

Snowfall this past February ranged from well below normal across
the Saint John valley to all-time record amounts across parts of
Down East maine. At Caribou, there was a total of 18.7
inches, which was 3.5 inches below normal. It was the least snowy
February at Caribou since 2010. By comparison, Bangor had a total
of 42.4 inches, which was 27.7 inches above normal. It was the
2nd snowiest February on record at Bangor behind only 1969 when a
total of 62.5 inches of snow was observed. It was also the
snowiest month at Bangor since January 1987. Parts of the Down
East region had even more snowfall, especially coastal Hancock
and coastal and central Washington counties. Eastport in
Washington County observed 82.3 inches of snow, which is an
unofficial all-time record monthly snowfall for any long term
climate sites in northern and eastern Maine.

The month began with 20 to 30 inches of snow on the ground, with
locally higher amounts across parts of the Down East region and
In the north woods. The month ended with as little as a foot of
snow on the ground in parts of the Saint John valley with 15 to 25
inches across much of the remainder of far northern Maine.
Down East amounts ranged from 30 to 50 inches, with unoffical
amounts as much as high as 60 inches in parts of coastal Hancock
and coastal Washington counties.

The outlook from the Climate Predication Center
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/ for March indicates that there are
no strong climate signals that would point toward an unusually
cold or mild March or an unusually wet (snowy) or dry month. Short
term indications are that the month will get off to a colder than
normal start during the first couple of weeks of the month.
Average temperatures rise rapidly in March. The average high at
Caribou rises from 29F on the 1st to 40F on the 31st. The average
low temperature rises from 9F on the 1st to 22F by months end. At
Bangor, the average high climbs from 35F at the start of the
Month to 46F on the 31st. The average low rises from 15F at the
start of the month to 27F by months end. Daylight increases
rapidly with a nearly 2 hour increase in available daylight
during the month of March. Daylight savings time begins on Sunday,
March 8th.