March 2013 Climate Summary

^{...Northern and eastern Maine March 2013 monthly climate summary...}

^{March 2013 got off to a very mild start.  Every day during the first}

^{two weeks of the month featured above normal temperatures at both}

^{Caribou and Bangor. In fact, the first two weeks of the month were}

^{the warmest start on record to the month of March at Caribou.  At}

^{Bangor it ranked as the 6th warmest start to the month on record.} 

^{Temperatures turned sharply colder mid month with a low of zero at}

^{Caribou on the morning of the 18th and 7 above at Bangor on the}

^{morning of the 22nd.  The warm start to the month all but assured}

^{above normal temperatures for the month as a whole.  By the end of}

^{the month, average temperatures ranged from 2 to 5 degrees above}

^{normal, with a few pockets of 5 to 8 degrees above normal across}

^{northern Maine. Caribou ended the month with an average temperature}

^{Of 29.8 degrees, which was 5.3 degrees above normal.  It was the}

^{5th warmest March during the past 30 years.  At Bangor, the average}

^{temperature of 32.4 degrees was 2.2 degrees above normal.}

^{Although March was unusually warm, it did not feature the record}

^{warmth of 2012 that sent temperatures into the 80s at Bangor on the}

^{21st and 22nd, setting back to back all-time monthly high}

^{records.  Caribou observed 3 consecutive days in the 70s in 2012 and}

^{set an all-time monthly record high of 75 degrees on the 21st.  The}

^{monthly high temperature during March 2013 was only 50 degrees on}

^{the 31st at Caribou and 55 degrees at Bangor on the 29th.} 

^{The biggest weather events this past march were a blizzard that}

^{began on the last day of February and ended early on the morning of}

^{the 1st.  A heavy rain event on March 12-13 that produced 1 to 3}

^{inches of rain in Washington county and caused culvert flooding and}

^{washouts countywide.  A snow storm on March 19-20 produced}

^{widespread 8 to 16 inches of snow across the area with a bit less}

^{along the immediate coast, and up to 18 inches in the Houlton area.}

^{As is usually the case precipitation was much more variable than}

^{temperature. March 2013 was relatively dry in many areas, but}  

^{parts of coastal Washington county received over 3 inches of rain}

^{from the heavy rain event on March 12-13...and ended the month with}

^{125 percent of normal precipitation.  Caribou and Bangor observed 69}

^{and 61 percent respectively of their normal precipitation.  A total}

^{of 15.2 inches of snow was observed at Caribou, which was 3.1}

^{inches below normal.  At Bangor, the total of 13.7 inches of snow}

^{was 2 inches above normal.} 

^{The month began with 22 inches of snow on the ground at}

^{Caribou, but the snow melted and compressed to only 4 inches by mid}

^{month due to the record warm start to the month.  By the end of the}

^{month the snow depth had decreased to only a trace.  At Bangor, the}

^{month began with 4 inches of snow on the ground and ended with}

^{zero.  The snow depth peaked at 10 inches on the 20th-21st.  At the}

^{end of the month there was still a significant snow pack with snow}

^{depths of 1 to 2 feet in the north Maine woods.}

^{Break up was for the most part very gentle this March as there was}

^{no extremely warm weather, and temperatures fell below freezing on}

^{most nights.  Mild temperatures and heavy rainfall in Washington}

^{County on March 12-13 caused some ice movement on the Piscataquis}

^{River and Kingsbury Stream...but there were no reports received this}

^{past March of any significant flooding.}

^{Although April is expected to start on a cold note this week the}

^{official outlook for April from the Climate Prediction Center}

^{calls for an increased chance of above normal temperatures. There}

^{are no strong climate signals that tilt the odds in favor of}

^{either an unusually dry or wet April. At Caribou (Bangor) the}

^{average high temperature on the 1st is 40 degrees (46) and by the}

^{end of the month rises to 56 degrees (59). The average lows warm}

^{from 23 to 36 degrees at Caribou and from 27 to 37 degrees at}

^{Bangor. Average precipitation at Caribou is 2.66 inches which}

^{includes 7.4 inches of snow...and 3.62 inches including 3.7 inches}

^{of snow at Bangor.}