July 2020 Climate Summary for Northern and Eastern Maine

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

SIMILAR TO JUNE, JULY WAS ANOTHER MONTH WITH ABOVE AVERAGE

TEMPERATURES ACROSS NORTHERN AND EASTERN MAINE. TEMPERATURES

AVERAGED FROM 2 TO 4.5 DEGREES ABOVE AVERAGE. IN CARIBOU, IT WAS

THE 2ND WARMEST JULY ON RECORD BEHIND ONLY 2018. IT ALSO RANKED AS

THE 2ND ALL-TIME WARMEST MONTH IN CARIBOU SINCE WEATHER RECORDS

BEGAN IN 1939. IN HOULTON, IT WAS THE 11TH WARMEST JULY ON RECORD,

IN MILLINOCKET THE 15TH WARMEST, AND IN BANGOR IT WAS THE 12TH

WARMEST ON RECORD.

THERE WERE A TOTAL OF 20 DAYS WITH A HIGH OF 80 DEGREES OR WARMER IN

CARIBOU, WHICH IS THE 2ND MOST ON RECORD BEHIND ONLY 2018 WHEN THERE

WERE 21 DAYS ABOVE 80F. MILLINOCKET ALSO HAD 20 DAYS WITH A HIGH OF

80 DEGREES OR WARMER, WHICH WAS THE 9TH MOST ON RECORD.  BANGOR AND

HOULTON DID NOT RANK IN THE TOP 10 FOR THE NUMBER OF 80 DEGREE DAYS.

FOR THE COMBINED 2-MONTHS OF JUNE AND JULY 2020 IT WAS THE ALL-

TIME WARMEST ON RECORD IN CARIBOU BY A FULL DEGREE WITH AN

AVERAGE 2 MONTH TEMPERATURE OF 67.2 DEGREES, WHICH BROKE THE

RECORD OF 66.2 DEGREES IN 2006. IN HOULTON, IT RANKED AS THE 9TH

WARMEST 2 MONTH PERIOD, IN MILLINOCKET IT RANKED AS THE 7TH

WARMEST, AND IN BANGOR IT WAS THE 11TH WARMEST.

MODERATE DROUGHT CONDITIONS WERE OBSERVED ACROSS ALL OF NORTHERN

AND EASTERN MAINE IN JULY WITH A MUCH SMALLER AREA OF SEVERE

DROUGHT ACROSS PARTS OF THE SAINT JOHN VALLEY. NEAR RECORD LOW

STREAM FLOWS WERE REPORTED ACROSS AROOSTOOK COUNTY, ESPECIALLY

DURING THE FIRST HALF OF THE MONTH. SHORT TO VERY SHORT TOPSOIL

MOISTURE WAS REPORTED IN MANY AREAS OF NORTHERN AND EASTERN MAINE.

THE DRY CONDITIONS IMPACTED AGRICULTURAL INTEREST WITH REDUCED

HAY AND GRAIN CROPS AND LED TO AN INCREASED NEED TO IRRIGATE

CROPS.

THE MONTH BEGAN VERY DRY, BUT RAINFALL DID BECOME MORE FREQUENT

FROM THE 2ND WEEK OF THE MONTH THROUGH THE END OF THE MONTH. IN

CARIBOU, A TOTAL OF 3.04 INCHES OF RAIN WAS OBSERVED, WHICH WAS

ABOUT 75 PERCENT OF NORMAL. IN HOULTON, 3.13 INCHES OF RAIN FEEL,

WHICH WAS JUST 53 HUNDREDTHS OF AN INCH BELOW NORMAL. IN

MILLINOCKET, 4.02 INCHES OF RAIN FELL, WHICH WAS 17 HUNDRETHS OF

AN INCH ABOVE AVERAGE. IN BANGOR, 4.21 INCHES OF RAIN WAS

OBSERVED, WHICH WAS THREE QUARTERS OF AN INCH ABOVE AVERAGE. THE

RAINFALL WAS A COMBINATION OF MOSTLY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS,

AND MANY AREAS IN WASHINGTON COUNTY AND NORTHERN AROOSTOOK COUNTY

HAD WELL BELOW AVERAGE RAINFALL THAT RANGED FROM AS LITTLE AS 25

PERCENT OF NORMAL IN PARTS OF THE SAINT JOHN VALLEY TO 5O TO 70

PERCENT OF NORMAL IN WASHINGTON COUNTY.

FOR THE 2-MONTH PERIOD OF JUNE AND JULY IT WAS THE 3RD DRIEST ON

RECORD IN CARIBOU WITH ONLY 3.92 INCHES OF RAIN.  HOULTON HAD THE

5TH DRIEST JUNE AND JULY COMBINED WITH 4.31 INCHES. MILLINOCKET AND

BANGOR DID NOT RANK IN THE TOP 20 FOR THE DRIEST COMBINED JUNE AND

JULY ON RECORD.

THE OUTLOOK FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST IS CALLING FOR CONTINUED

GREATER PROBABILITIES OF ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES. THERE IS AN

INCREASED PROBABILITY OF ABOVE AVERAGE PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE

DOWNEAST REGION AND NO STRONG CLIMATE SIGNALS THAT WOULD POINT

TOWARD ABOVE OR BELOW AVERAGE PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE REMAINDER

OF THE REGION. AVERAGE TEMPERATURES BEGIN TO SLOWLY FALL,

ESPECIALLY DURING THE 2ND HALF OF THE MONTH. IN CARIBOU, THE

AVERAGE HIGH ON THE 1ST IS 76 DEGREES AND IT FALLS TO 71 BY THE

END OF THE MONTH. THE AVERAGE LOW DROPS FROM 55 ON THE 1ST TO 49

BY THE END OF THE MONTH. ON AVERAGE, THERE IS 3.76 INCHES OF RAIN.

IN BANGOR, THE AVERAGE HIGH FALLS FROM 80 DEGREES ON THE FIRST TO

76 BY THE END OF THE MONTH. THE AVERAGE LOW FALLS FROM 58 TO 53

DEGREES. NEARLY AN HOUR AND A HALF OF DAYLIGHT IS LOST DURING THE

MONTH OF AUGUST.