February 2021 Climate Review

...FEBRUARY 2021 MONTHLY CLIMATE NARRATIVE FOR NORTHERN AND EASTERN MAINE...

FEBRUARY 2021 FINISHED WITH TEMPERATURES THAT AVERAGED FROM 0.5 TO
2.5 DEGREES ABOVE AVERAGE. THERE WERE A FEW SHOTS OF MODIFIED ARCTIC
AIR, BUT NO EXTREME COLD ALL MONTH. IN FACT, THE LOWEST HIGH
TEMPERATURE THE ENTIRE MONTH IN CARIBOU WAS 18F AND AT BANGOR 22F.

IN CARIBOU, THERE WERE ONLY 8 NIGHTS WITH LOW BELOW ZERO, WHICH
COMPARES TO AN AVERAGE OF 11. IN BANGOR, THERE WAS ONLY ONE NIGHT
ALL MONTH WITH LOW BELOW ZERO. THIS COMPARES TO AN AVERAGE OF 5.

SNOWFALL WAS ABOVE AVERAGE. IN CARIBOU, A TOTAL OF 38 INCHES OF SNOW
WAS OBSERVED, WHICH WAS 15.8 INCHES ABOVE AVERAGE. IT WAS THE
SNOWIEST FEBRUARY SINCE 2013, AND RANKED AS THE 10TH SNOWIEST
FEBRUARY SINCE WEATHER RECORD BEGAN IN 1939. IN BANGOR, A TOTAL OF
17.5 INCHES OF SNOW WAS OBSERVED, WHICH WAS 2.8 INCHES ABOVE
AVERAGE.

THERE WERE SEVERAL WINTER STORMS THAT AFFECTED THE REGION. THE
LARGEST STORMS WERE FEBRUARY 2-3, WHEN 7 TO 15 INCHES OF SNOW WAS
OBSERVED ACROSS MUCH OF THE REGION FROM MILLINOCKET NORTH. ANOTHER
STORM ON THE 16TH PRODUCED FROM 6 TO 9 INCHES OF SNOW, AGAIN THE
HIGHEST TOTALS WERE FROM MILLINOCKET NORTH. A COOPERATIVE OBSERVED
IN EAST SURRY (JUST SOUTH OF ELLSWORTH IN HANCOCK COUNTY) OBSERVED
10.1 INCHES FOR THE MONTH, WHICH WAS BELOW AVERAGE.

LIQUID PRECIPITATION (RAIN AND MELTED SNOW) WAS A BIT ABOVE AVERAGE
ACROSS NORTHERN AREAS AND RANGED FROM 100 TO 150 PERCENT OF NORMAL.
DOWNEAST, PRECIPITATION WAS A BIT BELOW AVERAGE AND RANGED FROM 75
TO 100 PERCENT OF NORMAL.

AT THE END 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.

THE OUTLOOK FOR MARCH 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.