Meteorological Winter 2014-15 Climate Narrative for Northern and Eastern Maine

Overall, the meteorological winter (December through February)
of 2014-15 finished with above normal precipitation and below
normal temperatures. For the three month period it was the 2nd
snowiest on record at Bangor. February was the coldest on record
at both Bangor and Caribou, and was the all-time coldest month on
record at Bangor.

Winter precipitation ranged from 70 to 90 percent of normal across
the Saint John Valley to well over 200 percent of normal across
Washington county. The winter began quite wet with well above
average precipitation in December that ranged from 130-200 of
normal. January featured near normal precipitation, but above                                                     
normal snowfall, especially Down East. February had well below
normal precipitation and snowfall across far northern Maine, and
well above normal Down East. It was the all-time snowiest month
on record in parts of Washington County.

Temperatures ranged from 3-6 degrees above normal in
December, 1-3 degrees below normal in January, and 10 to 15
degrees below normal in February.

The winter began quite warm in December, and Christmas Day was
the warmest on record at both Caribou and Bangor. January was a
much colder month, and with the exception of a brief January
thaw on the 18th into the 19th the month had below normal
temperatures. February was the coldest on record across all of
northern and eastern Maine, and was the all-time coldest month
at Bangor. A series of snow storms in late January and February
produced record snowfall across parts of Down East Maine.
At the end of February, the snow depths were below normal across
far northern Maine and ranged from 12 to 20 inches. Snow depths
ranged from 30 to 45 inches across Down East Maine, which is well
above normal.

The meteorological winter ended with a total of 91.2 inches of
snow at Bangor, which was the 2nd most on record. At Caribou a
total of 79.5 inches was observed, which ranked as the 23rd
snowiest on record. The average temperature at Bangor of 16.8
degrees ranked as the 11th coldest on record, and the average
temperature of 11.5 degrees at Caribou ranked as the 21st coldest
on record.