March 2021 Climate Summary for Northern and Eastern Maine

...MARCH 2021 PRELIMINARY MONTHLY CLIMATE NARRATIVE FOR NORTHERN AND

EASTERN MAINE...

MARCH 2021 FINISHED WITH TEMPERATURES THAT AVERAGED FROM 2 TO 3

DEGREES ABOVE AVERAGE ACROSS THE REGION. THE MONTH FEATURED

ALTERNATING SPELLS OF BOTH ABOVE AND BELOW AVERAGE TEMPERATURES.

THERE WAS A PRONOUNCED WARM-UP ON THE 20TH THROUGH THE 25TH THAT

BROUGHT SIX CONSECUTIVE DAYS WITH HIGH TEMPERATURES IN THE 50S AND

60S AND MELTED OUT A LOT OF THE SNOW PACK.

PRECIPITATION WAS BELOW AVERAGE ACROSS NEARLY ALL OF THE REGION AND

RANGED FROM 30 TO 70 PERCENT OF NORMAL DOWNEAST, AND FROM 50 TO 90

PERCENT OF NORMAL ELSEWHERE. THE ONLY EXCEPTION WAS FROM CARIBOU AND

PRESQUE ISLE NORTH TO THE EASTERN SAINT JOHN VALLEY WHERE

PRECIPITATION RANGED FROM 90 TO 110 PERCENT OF NORMAL.

SNOWFALL WAS BELOW AVERAGE THIS PAST MARCH. IN CARIBOU, 13.6 INCHES

OF SNOW WAS OBSERVED, WHICH WAS 5.1 INCHES BELOW AVERAGE. IN BANGOR,

ONLY A TRACE OF SNOW WAS OBSERVED ALL MONTH WHICH WAS 11.7 INCHES

BELOW AVERAGE. THIS PAST MARCH TIED WITH MARCH 1946 FOR THE LEAST

AMOUNT OF SNOW OBSERVED DURING THE MONTH OF MARCH SINCE WEATHER

RECORDS BEGAN IN 1925.

AT THE START OF THE MONTH, SNOW DEPTH RANGED FROM 15 TO 30 INCHES

ACROSS FAR NORTHERN AREAS FROM MILLINOCKET NORTH TO THE SAINT JOHN

VALLEY WITH THE HIGHEST TOTALS ACROSS THE HIGHER TERRAIN AND IN THE

NORTH WOODS. SNOW DEPTH IN BANGOR AND ALONG THE COAST RANGED FROM 5

TO 10 INCHES IN MOST LOCATIONS. BY THE END OF THE MONTH, SNOW DEPTHS

RANGED FROM 4 TO 10 INCHES ACROSS FAR NORTHWEST MAINE. FURTHER EAST

ACROSS THE REST OF FAR NORTHERN MAINE SNOW DEPTHS RANGE FROM A TRACE

TO 4 INCHES. ELSEWHERE, ACROSS NORTHERN AND EASTERN MAINE LITTLE OR

NO SNOW WAS LEFT ON THE GROUND.

THE MOST SIGNIFICANT WEATHER EVENT OF THE MONTH OCCURRED ON THE 2ND

ACROSS FAR NORTHERN MAINE IN NORTHERN AND EASTERN AROOSTOOK COUNTY.

THE COMBINATION OF VERY STRONG WIND AND SNOWFALL ON THE 1ST PRODUCED

SIGNIFICANT BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW. MANY AREA ROADS WERE CLOSED,

AND THERE WERE A NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS DUE TO LOCAL WHITE-OUT

CONDITIONS.

THE OUTLOOK FOR APRIL FROM THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER CALLS FOR

AN INCREASED LIKELIHOOD OF ABOVE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES. THERE ARE

CURRENTLY NO STRONG SIGNALS THAT POINT TOWARD ABOVE OR BELOW AVERAGE

PRECIPITATION.

$$

CB/VJN