June 2015 Climate Summary for northern and eastern Maine

...Northern and eastern Maine monthly area climate narrative...

June 2015 featured well below normal temperatures and above normal precipitation. Temperatures averaged from 2.5 to 4 degrees below normal. Precipitation was more variable across the region, but in most areas ranged from 120 to 170 percent of normal.

At Caribou, the average temperature of 57.9 degrees was 2.7 degrees below normal.  It was the coolest June since 2002 and ranked as the 12th coolest June on record.  There were only 7 days during the entire month when the average temperature was above normal.  The 2nd was an unusually cool day with a high of only 48 degrees. The high temperature for the entire month was 77 degrees on the 18th. This was only the 2nd time that the high temperature did not reach 80 degrees during the month of June.  The last time was in 1985.

At Bangor, the average temperature of 59.5 degrees was 3.7 degrees below normal.  It was the coolest June since 1977, and ranked as the 5th coolest June on record.  There were only 6 days all month when the average temperature was above normal.  The 2nd was unusually cool with a record low high temperature of only 47 degrees. This was only the 2nd time on record when the high temperature failed to get out of the 40s during the month of June, and was only 1 degree shy of the all-time record low high
temperature for the month of 46 degrees, which was set on June 9, 1956.  On the morning of the 7th the low of 36 degrees was a daily record, and broke the record of 37 degrees set in 1958.

The first half of the year from January 1 through June 30th was the coldest ever on record at Bangor with an average temperature of 34 degrees. At Caribou it tied with 1994 as the 7th coldest first half of the year on record with an average temperature of 30.4 degrees.

A total of 4.25 inches of rain was observed at Caribou, which was 77 hundredths of an inch (0.77") above normal.  At Bangor, a total of 4.90 inches of rain was observed, which was 1.14 inches above normal.

The outlook from the Climate Predication Center for July indicates no strong climate signals that would point toward an unusually hot or cool July or an unusually wet or dry month. July is typically the warmest month of the year with average temperatures peaking out around the middle of the month.  The average high peaks out at 76 (80) at Caribou (Bangor), and the average low peaks out at 56 (58) at Caribou (Bangor). Nearly an hour of daylight is lost during the month of July. Severe weather typically peaks during the month of July with on average more reports of hail, damaging winds, and tornadoes than any other month.