March 2022 Climate Summary for Northern and Eastern Maine

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PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CARIBOU ME

711 PM EDT FRI APR 1 2022

...PRELIMINARY MARCH 2022 CLIMATE NARRATIVE FOR NORTHERN/EASTERN 

MAINE...

MARCH ENDED WITH TEMPERATURES THAT RANGED FROM NEAR 1 DEGREE 

BELOW NORMAL (1991-2020 NORMALS) IN THE SAINT JOHN VALLEY TO 2 TO

3 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL FROM HOULTON SOUTH TO BANGOR INCLUDING THE

DOWNEAST COAST. SIMILAR TO FEBRUARY, THERE WERE FREQUENT 

ALTERNATING SPELLS OF BOTH WELL ABOVE AVERAGE AND WELL BELOW 

AVERAGE TEMPERATURES. 

IN CARIBOU, TEMPERATURES RANGED FROM A LOW OF -9F ON THE 1ST AND

4TH TO A HIGH OF 47F ON THE 17TH AND 18TH. IN BANGOR, TEMPERATURES

THIS PAST MARCH RANGED FROM A LOW OF -5F ON THE 5TH TO A HIGH OF

66 DEGREES ON THE 18TH. NO DAILY TEMPERATURE RECORDS WERE

ESTABLISHED AT ANY OF THE LONG TERM CLIMATE SITES IN MARCH. THE

COLD SPOT FOR THE MONTH WAS -27F AT MASARDIS. 

PRECIPITATION RANGED FROM 90 TO 150 PERCENT OF NORMAL ACROSS THE 

NORTH WITH LOCAL AREAS OF 150 TO 200 PERCENT OF NORMAL IN NORTHERN

SOMERSET COUNTY AND NORTHWEST PISCATAQUIS COUNTY. FROM THE

KATAHDIN REGION SOUTH, PRECIPITATION RANGED FROM 50 TO 90 PERCENT

OF NORMAL. SNOWFALL WAS ABOVE AVERAGE ACROSS FAR NORTHERN MAINE

FROM AROUND PRESQUE ISLE NORTH AND BELOW AVERAGE TO THE SOUTH

INCLUDING ALL OF THE DOWNEAST REGION. 

IN CARIBOU, 26.2 INCHES OF SNOW WAS OBSERVED WHICH WAS 4.8 INCHES

ABOVE AVERAGE. IN BANGOR, ONLY 5 INCHES OF SNOW AS OBSERVED, 

WHICH WAS 10.2 INCHES BELOW AVERAGE. THE MONTH FEATURED FREQUENT 

SNOWFALLS ACROSS THE FAR NORTH, AND MORE RAIN THAN SNOW ACROSS 

THE SOUTH. THE BIGGEST SNOW EVENT OCCURRED ON MARCH 12TH WHEN 6.2 

INCHES OF SNOW WAS OBSERVED IN CARIBOU, BUT SOME LOCATIONS IN THE 

NORTH WOODS OBSERVED OVER 10 INCHES OF SNOW.

AT THE START OF MARCH, THE SNOW DEPTH RANGED FROM 15 TO 25 INCHES

ACROSS NORTHERN AREAS WITH LOCAL AMOUNTS OF 30 TO 40 INCHES 

ACROSS THE HIGHER TERRAIN TO THE WEST OF ROUTE 11. IN BANGOR AND 

ALONG THE COAST, THE SNOW DEPTH RANGED FROM 2 TO 6 INCHES WITH THE

LOWEST AMOUNTS ALONG THE IMMEDIATE COAST. BY THE END OF THE MONTH,

THE SNOW DEPTH RANGED FROM 15 TO 30 INCHES ACROSS THE NORTH WITH 3

FEET ON THE GROUND IN ALLAGASH, AND 40+ INCHES ACROSS THE HIGHER 

ELEVATIONS WEST OF ROUTE 11. MOST OF THE SNOW IN BANGOR AND ALONG 

THE COAST MELTED OUT DURING THE FIRST WEEK TO TEN DAYS OF THE 

MONTH.

THE OUTLOOK FROM THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER FOR APRIL 

INDICATES THAT THE ODDS ARE SLIGHTLY TILTED TOWARD BOTH ABOVE

AVERAGE TEMPERATURES AND PRECIPITATION. DAYLIGHT INCREASES 

RAPIDLY DURING THE MONTH WITH OVER AN HOUR AND A HALF OF 

ADDITIONAL DAYLIGHT BY THE END OF APRIL. AVERAGE TEMPERATURES 

RISE SIGNIFICANTLY DURING THE MONTH WITH AN AVERAGE HIGH NEAR 40

DEGREES ACROSS THE NORTH AT THE START OF THE MONTH WITH MID 50S BY

THE END OF THE MONTH. AVERAGE LOWS IN THE NORTH START IN THE LOW

20S AND RISE TO THE MID 30S BY THE END OF THE MONTH. IN BANGOR, 

AVERAGE HIGHS RISE FROM THE MID 40S ON THE 1ST TO 60 DEGREES BY 

MONTHS END. AVERAGE LOWS RISE FROM THE UPPER 20S IN THE 1ST TO THE

UPPER 30S BY THE END OF THE MONTH. AVERAGE MONTHLY SNOWFALL IS 

8.2 INCHES IN CARIBOU AND 3.7 INCHES IN CARIBOU. THE AVERAGE 

PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH (COMBINED RAIN AND MELTED SNOW) RANGES

FROM 3 TO 3.7 INCHES WITH THE HIGHEST AVERAGE TOTALS DOWNEAST.

$$

CB/VJN