November 2024 Climate Review for Northern and Eastern Maine

...NOVEMBER 2024 CLIMATE NARRATIVE FOR NORTHERN/EASTERN MAINE...

NOVEMBER 2024 WAS MUCH WARMER THAN NORMAL WITH BELOW AVERAGE
PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE REGION.  TEMPERATURES RANGED FROM 4 TO 6
DEGREES (F) ABOVE THE 1991-2020 NORMALS.

IN CARIBOU, IT WAS THE WARMEST NOVEMBER ON RECORD, BESTING 2011
BY 0.3F. SIX OF THE TOP 10 WARMEST NOVEMBERS HAVE BEEN OBSERVED
SINCE 2006. IN BANGOR, IT TIED WITH 1934 AND 2016 AS THE 4TH
WARMEST NOVEMBER ON RECORD. iT WAS ALSO THE 4TH WARMEST NOVEMBER
ON RECORD IN MILLINOCKET, AND A TIE WITH 1953 FOR THE 6TH WARMEST
IN HOULTON.

PRECIPITATION RANGED FROM 50 TO 90 PERCENT OF NORMAL WITH MUCH OF
THE PRECIPITATION FALLING DURING THE LAST THIRD OF THE MONTH.
SNOWFALL WAS MOSTLY BELOW AVERAGE, BUT WAS A BIT ABOVE AVERAGE IN
PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN PISCATAQUIS COUNTY AND SOUTHERN AROOSTOOK
COUNTY.

TEMPERATURES MOST OF THE MONTH WERE MILD. THERE WAS ONLY ONE
NIGHT ALL MONTH IN CARIBOU AND BANGOR WHEN LOWS DROPPED INTO THE
TEENS. ONLY 1948, 2009, AND 2016 HAD FEWER NIGHTS (NONE OBSERVED)
WITH A LOW IN THE TEENS IN CARIBOU.

RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES WERE OBSERVED ACROSS THE REGION ON THE 6TH
WITH WIDESPREAD HIGHS IN THE 70S. IN CARIBOU THE HIGH OF 72F WAS
THE 2ND WARMEST HIGH TEMPERATURE SO LATE IN THE SEASON. IN BANGOR,
THE HIGH OF 75F TIED WITH 1938 FOR THE WARMEST TEMPERATURE EVER
OBSERVED SO LATE IN THE SEASON.

THE MOST SIGNIFICANT EVENT OF THE MONTH WAS A SNOWSTORM ON THE 28TH
INTO THE 29TH THAT PRODUCED AS MUCH AS 15 INCHES OF SNOW AT PARKMAN
IN PISCATAQUIS COUNTY, AND 13 INCHES AT HAMMOND IN AROOSTOOK COUNTY.
ELSEWHERE ACROSS THE REGION, AMOUNTS MOSTLY RANGED FROM 3 TO 8
INCHES. THERE WERE SOME AREAS ALONG THE COAST WHERE SNOWFALL WAS
AN INCH OR LESS. TEMPERATURES DURING THE STORM WERE VERY CLOSE TO
FREEZING LEADING TO SLICK TRAVEL AND NUMEROUS ACCIDENTS.

THERE WAS NO SNOW ON THE GROUND AT THE START OF THE MONTH.  BY THE
END OF THE MONTH, THE SNOW DEPTH RANGED FROM 4 TO 10 INCHES
ACROSS FAR NORTHERN MAINE WITH 2 INCHES IN BANGOR AND LITTLE/NO
SNOW ALONG THE IMMEDIATE COAST. ICE WAS JUST STARTING TO FORM AT
THE END OF THE MONTH ON NORTHERN PONDS WITH FRAZIL ICE ON NORTHERN
RIVERS.

BY THE END OF THE MONTH, MOST OF THE REGION WAS IN MODERATE
DROUGHT (D1) WITH THE EXCEPTION OF NORTHWEST MAINE WHERE IT WAS
ABNORMALLY DRY (D0). THE WET WEATHER AND SNOW THAT OCCURRED LATE
IN THE MONTH WAS BENEFICIAL FOR THE DROUGHT, BUT NOT ENOUGH TO
SIGNIFICANTLY EASE CONDITIONS.

THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER`S (CPC) OUTLOOK FOR DECEMBER 2024
INDICATES THAT THERE ARE NO STRONG CLIMATE SIGNALS THAT POINT TOWARD
ABOVE OR BELOW AVERAGE TEMPERATURES OR PRECIPITATION.

AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURES RANGE FROM THE THE LOW 30S TO NEAR 40
DEGREES (FROM NORTH TO SOUTH) AT THE START OF THE MONTH. BY THE END
OF THE MONTH, AVERAGE HIGHS RANGE FROM THE LOW 20S TO NEAR 30
DEGREES. AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURES RANGE FROM THE LOW 30S AT THE
START OF THE MONTH DOWNEAST, TO THE LOW TEENS BY THE END OF THE
MONTH. ACROSS THE FAR NORTH, AVERAGE LOWS DROP FROM THE UPPER TEENS
AT THE START OF THE MONTH TO THE SINGLE DIGITS BY THE END OF THE
MONTH.

LIQUID PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH OF DECEMBER AVERAGES BETWEEN 3.50
AND 4.00 INCHES ACROSS THE REGION. SNOWFALL IN CARIBOU FOR DECEMBER
AVERAGES 25.2 INCHES, WHILE IN BANGOR SNOWFALL AVERAGES 14.7 INCHES.
DECEMBER IS RARELY THE COLDEST MONTH OF THE WINTER ACROSS NORTHERN
AND EASTERN MAINE WITH ONLY A HANDFUL OF DECEMBERS ENDING UP AS THE
COLDEST WINTER MONTH. THE WINTER SOLSTICE THIS YEAR WILL OCCUR ON
THE 21ST AT 4:19 AM.