Spring Weather Summary

..Spring weather summary for northern and eastern Maine...

For the meteorological spring (March through May) of 2015 temperatures and precipitation were below normal. Temperatures averaged from 1 to 2 degrees below normal and precipitation averaged from 50 to 90 percent of normal. At both Caribou and Bangor it was the driest spring since 2001.

At Caribou, the average temperature of 37.3 degrees was 0.9 degrees below normal. At Bangor the average temperature of 40.8 degrees was 1.4 degrees below normal. A total of 6.75 inches of rain (and melted snow) was observed at Caribou, which was 78 percent of normal. At Bangor, a total of 6.16 inches of rain (and melted snow) was observed, which was 65 percent of normal.

For the second year in a row March was a very cold month. Temperatures averaged from 4 to 6 degrees below normal. It was the 4th coldest March on record at Bangor and the 11th coldest at Caribou. The big story was the persistent cold as there were only 5 days the entire month in most areas where the average temperature was above normal. Precipitation was below normal and ranged from 40 to 75 percent of normal.

April also featured below normal temperatures and precipitation. Temperatures averaged from 1 to 3 degrees below normal. Snowfall was close to normal in most areas, but the total precipitation (rain and melted snowfall) was 60 to 90 percent of normal. The highlight of the month was the morning of 6th when the temperature dropped to 4 below at Caribou, which set an all-time record low for the entire month of april. A low of 20 below was observed at Big Black River that morning, and from all available data sources was the lowest temperature ever observed in the state of Maine during the month of April.

May was the first month since December 2014 with above normal temperatures. Temperatures averaged from 2.5 to 4.5 degrees above normal. Precipitation in most areas ranged from 40 to to 75 percent of normal, but was highly variable due to the showery nature of the precipitation.

This past May was only the 3rd time since weather records began at Caribou in 1940 that the temperature did not fall below freezing during the month of may. The last freeze of the season at Bangor was observed on May 2nd, which was close to normal.

The most noteworthy event occurred on the morning of the 23rd when 3 tenths of an inch of snow was observed at Caribou. It was the 2nd latest measurable snowfall on record. An amazing 5.2 Inches of snow was observed 2 miles north of Portage.

Maps Courtesy of the Northeast Regional Climate Center