July 2017 Climate Summary for Northern and Eastern Maine

 ...Northern and eastern Maine July 2017 Climate Narrative...

July 2017 across northern and eastern Maine finished with at or slightly below average temperatures for the month and significantly below average rainfall.

Average temperatures for the month ranged from near normal to just 1 degree below average. There were no days with max temps at or above 90 degrees at the major climate stations. The warmest stretches for most locations occurred between 9th and 12th the 16th and 22nd which featured consecutive days of at or just above 80 degree highs. The coolest stretch extending from the 22nd to 30th, normally a period in summer most immune from very cool spells, featured several cool, fall like, mornings with lows in the 40s and even 30s at the typically cool northwest valley locations. The coolest morning was the 23rd where record lows of 42 and 38 occurred at Caribou and Houlton respectfully, and an unofficial low of 31 degrees was reported at Estcourt Station, the northwest most location in Maine. Low temperatures across the region on the 24th, 29th, and 30th were
not far behind.

Total rainfall only averaged 40 to 70 percent of average across the region. Of all the major climate locations in our area, only
Caribou had an above 1 inch rain total for an individual day of 1.08 inches on the 7th. Monthly totals of 2.62 inches at Caribou, 1.79 inches at Houlton, and 1.91 inches at Bangor finished 12th, 8th, and 15th driest respectfully against each locations length of record. The latter portion of the month when temperatures were cooler was the driest time with few measurable rain days.

The official outlook for the month of august for the region is tilted towards above average temps with equal chance of above, near normal, or below normal rainfall. Average high/low temps range from lower to mid 70s/lower to mid 50s far north to 75 to 80/mid to upper 50s over interior Downeast areas. Average rainfall for the month of August is generally between 3.00 and 3.65 inches.