August 2023 Climate Summary for Northern and Eastern Maine

...NORTHERN/EASTERN MAINE AUGUST 2023 CLIMATE MONTHLY SUMMARY...

AUGUST 2023 WILL BE REMEMBERED FOR COOLER THAN AVERAGE TEMPERATURES

AND WELL ABOVE AVERAGE RAINFALL.

AFTER THE WARMEST JULY ON RECORD IN CARIBOU AND A TOP 4 WARMEST JULY

ON RECORD AT THE OTHER LONG TERM CLIMATE SITES, AUGUST WAS MUCH

COOLER ACROSS THE REGION WITH TEMPERATURES THAT AVERAGED FROM 1 TO

2.5 DEGREES BELOW AVERAGE.

IN CARIBOU, THERE WERE NO 80 DEGREE DAYS THE ENTIRE MONTH.  THE ONLY

OTHER TIME THIS HAS OCCURRED SINCE WEATHER RECORDS BEGAN IN 1939 WAS

BACK IN 1972.  ON AVERAGE, CARIBOU OBSERVES 8 DAYS WITH A HIGH OF

80F OR WARMER DURING THE MONTH OF AUGUST.  IN BANGOR THERE WERE 7

DAYS WITH A HIGH OF 80F OR WARMER, AND THE HIGHEST TEMPERATURE ALL

MONTH WAS 84F. TYPICALLY BANGOR OBSERVES 16 DAYS DURING THE MONTH OF

AUGUST WITH A HIGH OF 80F OR WARMER.

RAINFALL ACROSS THE REGION THIS PAST AUGUST WAS WELL ABOVE AVERAGE

AND RANGED FROM 150 TO 200 PERCENT OF NORMAL, AND WAS SPREAD OUT

FAIRLY EVENLY ACROSS THE MONTH. IN CARIBOU IT RANKED AS THE 6TH

WETTEST AUGUST ON RECORD WITH 6.60 INCHES OF RAIN. IN BANGOR IT

RANKED AS THE 5TH WETTEST AUGUST ON RECORD WITH 6.22 INCHES OF

RAIN. ALTHOUGH NOT AN OFFICIAL CLIMATE SITE DUE TO THE SHORT

PERIOD OF RECORD, FRENCHVILLE OBSERVED 6.98 INCHES OF RAIN MAKING

IT THE WETTEST AUGUST SINCE PRECIPITATION RECORDS BEGAN IN 1998.

THE AUGUST 2023 TOTAL PAN EVAPORATION OF 2.38 INCHES AT CARIBOU

WAS MUCH LESS THAN RAINFALL ACROSS THE REGION, MEANING SOILS

BECAME INCREASINGLY MOIST. THERE WERE SOME FIELDS AT THE END OF

THE MONTH THAT HAD PATCHES OF STANDING WATER. STREAMFLOWS ACROSS

MOST OF THE REGION WERE ABOVE TO WELL ABOVE AVERAGE AT THE END OF

THE MONTH.

THERE WAS LITTLE SEVERE WEATHER IN JUNE AND JULY, AND AUGUST HAD THE

MOST REPORTS OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OF ANY MONTH THIS SUMMER.  ON

AUGUST 13TH THERE WERE SEVERAL SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THAT KNOCKED

DOWN TREES AND PRODUCED LARGE HAIL IN PORTIONS OF AROOSTOOK,

PISCATAQUIS, AND PENOBSCOT COUNTIES.

THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER`S OUTLOOK FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER

2023 INDICATES THAT THE ODDS ARE SLIGHTLY TILTED TOWARD ABOVE

AVERAGE TEMPERATURES. THERE ARE NO STRONG SIGNALS THAT WOULD POINT

TOWARD ABOVE OR BELOW AVERAGE PRECIPITATION. AVERAGE HIGH

TEMPERATURES ARE IN THE LOW TO MID 70S AT THE START OF THE MONTH AND

DROP TO THE LOW TO MID 60S BY THE END OF THE MONTH. AVERAGE LOWS

DROP FROM THE LOW 50S EARLY IN THE MONTH TO THE LOW 40S BY THE END

OF THE MONTH. FROST BECOMES AN INCREASING THREAT DURING THE MONTH OF

SEPTEMBER, ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE NORTHERN VALLEYS DURING THE SECOND

HALF OF THE MONTH. ALTHOUGH VERY RARE, SNOW HAS BEEN OBSERVED ACROSS

FAR NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE REGION LATE IN THE MONTH. THE CHANCES

OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS DROPS OFF RAPIDLY DURING THE MONTH.

SEPTEMBER IS THE MOST LIKELY MONTH FOR THE REGION TO BE AFFECTED BY

A TROPICAL SYSTEM OR THE REMAINS OF A TROPICAL SYSTEM.

$$

CB/VJN