March 2016 Climate Summary for Northern and Eastern Maine

...Climate summary for March 2016 for northern and eastern Maine...

Overall, March 2016 finished with near to slightly below average temperatures across far northern Maine with above average temperatures across the remainder of the region.

At Caribou, the average temperature of 24.1 degrees was 4 tenths of a degree below the 30-year average.  At Bangor on the other hand, the average temperature of 32.9 degrees was 2.7 degrees above average.

A total of 4.70 inches of rain (and melted snow) was observed at Caribou, which was 2.19 inches above average. It ranked as the 6th wettest March on record at Caribou. A total of 27.2 inches of snow was observed which was 8.9 inches above average and ranked as the 18th snowiest March on record.

At Bangor, a total of 3.27 inches of rain (and melted snow) was observed which was just 11 hundredths (0.11") of an inch below average.  A total of 6 inches of snow was observed which was 5.7 inches below average.  It was the least snowy march at Bangor since 2010.

At the start of the month, there was little or no snow on the ground across Downeast areas and along the coast. Across northern areas, the snow depth was only a quarter to a third of average. The only exception was in parts of north woods where snow depth was as high as 40 to 50 inches in some areas along the western Maine border with Quebec.  By the end of the month, there was little in the way of significant snow cover south of a Dover-Foxcroft to Danforth line
with no snow being reported from Bangor down to the coast. The central highlands were covered with a foot or less of snow. This increases rather quickly as you head north into Aroostook County and the north woods. The Saint John Valley and Allagash regions had the deepest snow pack where 20 to 30 inches was common. Higher amounts were likely across the higher terrain.

The snow water equivalent at the end of march was near normal. The highest snow water equivalent was across northern Maine with 5 to 8 inches being reported from Houlton north. Locally higher amounts exist in the higher terrain of the north woods. Down into the central highlands the snow had only 1 to 3 inches of water
equivalent.

The outlook from the Climate Predication Center for April calls for an increased likelihood of below average temperatures.  There are no strong climate signals that would point toward an unusually wet (snowy) or dry month.

During the month of April temperatures undergo the largest rise of any month of the year. The average high at Caribou (Bangor) climbs from 40 (46) degrees on the 1st to 56 (59) degrees by the end of the month. The average low rises from 23 (27) on the 1st to 36 (37) by the end of the month.  There is a gain over over 1 1/2 hours of usable daylight during the month of April.