June 2017 Climate Summary for Northern and Eastern Maine

...NORTHERN AND EASTERN MAINE MONTHLY CLIMATE NARRATIVE...

June 2017 finished with mostly slightly above average temperatures and above average precipitation for northern and eastern Maine. Average temperatures across the region ranged from 0.5 degrees below average to 1.5 degrees above average. The month began on the cool side the first week but then warmed significantly during the second week with a few days with high temps in the 80s and even a 90+ degree high temp for some locations on the 11th, which included record high temperatures for Caribou, Houlton, Millinocket and Bangor. After another brief cool down in the beginning of week three, temperatures settled to near normal for the remainder of the month.

The temperature dropped below freezing on the morning of the 27th at Estcourt Station in far northwest Maine with a low of 31F.  There were several valley locations in northern Maine with lows in the mid to upper 30s that morning.

Typical of many summer months, monthly total rainfall varied from place to place with little in the way of any coherent pattern due to the randomness of day to day shower and thunderstorm location occurrence. Houlton with only a 2.92 inch total received about 80 percent of average June rainfall while Frenchville and Millinocket
with 5.84 and 6.16 inches received about 140 to 150 percent of average June rainfall. Many of the remainder climate sites such as Caribou and Bangor received about a 110 to 120 percent of average June rainfall. The rainfall character of the month began quite dry over the first two weeks, then became much rainier through the remainder of the month.

The official outlook for July 2017 from the Climate Prediction Center indicates an increased likelihood of above average temperatures. There are no strong climate signals that would tilt the odds toward an unusually wet or dry July.

The average high temperature at Caribou peaks at 76 degrees from the 11th through the end of the month.  The average low peaks out at 55 degrees from the 10th through the end of the month.  July is on average the wettest month at Caribou with an average of 4.08" of rain.  At Bangor, the average high temperature peaks out at 80 degrees from the 13th through the end of the month.  The average low peaks at 58 degrees from the 10th through the end of the month.  On average, a total of 3.46" of rain is observed during the month of July.  In fact, in some locations along and near the coast July is typically the driest month of year. Close to an hour of available daylight is lost during the month of July. The severe weather season peaks during July with more reports of damaging wind and large hail during the month of July than during any other month of the year.