New Year's Day Weather Through the Years

New Year’s Day Weather at Bangor and Caribou over the years

Since weather records began in Bangor in 1925 the warmest New Year’s Day was in 1966 with a high of 54F.  The lowest temperature ever observed on New Year’s Day was 14 below in 1956.  The lowest high temperature ever observed was 7 above in 1957.  The normal high and low are 29F and 9F. 

What are the chances of having snow on the ground on New Year’s Day?  For the purposes of this write-up we will define snow on the ground as days having at least 1 inch of snow on the ground on New Year’s morning.  Over the years there has been snow on the ground 72 percent of the time.  The average snow depth is 3 inches, and 1963 takes the top honors with 39 inches of snow on the ground.  The snowiest New Year’s Day was in 1961 when 8 inches of snow was observed. 

At Caribou, where weather records began in 1939, the warmest New Year’s Day was in 1945 with a high of 48F.  The lowest temperature of 32 below was observed in 1972.  Only twice has the high temperature failed to climb above zero.  The lowest high temperature on record of 3 below was observed in 1947.  More recently in 1999, the high temperature was only 1 below.

What are the chances of having snow on the ground on New Year’s Day?  There have only been 3 years (1983, 2002, and 2004) with less than an inch of snow on the ground.  An inch or more of snow has been observed 96 percent of the time on New Year’s morning.  The average snow depth is 11 inches, and 1979 had the deepest snow pack with 34 inches of snow on the ground.  The snowiest New Year’s Day was in 1961 when 12.4 inches of snow was observed.

This New Year’s looks to be bitterly cold with lows of around 20 below at Caribou and 5 to 10 below at Bangor.  High temperatures of 5 to 10 below are expected at Caribou and near 5 above at Bangor.  The high temperatures at both locations may turn out being the coldest ever on record.