Summer 2025 Seasonal Narrative for Northern and Eastern Maine

...NORTHERN AND EASTERN MAINE SUMMER 2025 CLIMATE NARRATIVE...

THE METEOROLOGICAL SUMMER (JUNE - AUGUST) SEASON WRAPPED UP WITH 
SLIGHTLY ABOVE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES, AND SIGNIFICANTLY BELOW AVERAGE 
PRECIPITATION, PREDOMINANTLY AT BANGOR, MILLINOCKET, AND HOULTON. 

AVERAGE TEMPERATURES MOSTLY AROUND NORMAL, WITH A SLIGHT WARM 
ANOMALY. CARIBOU WAS 0.3F ABOVE NORMAL, WITH A SEASONAL AVERAGE 
TEMPERATURE OF 64.6F. BANGOR WAS 0.2F ABOVE NORMAL AT 67.3F. 
MILLINOCKET WAS THE WARMEST STATION, 0.9F ABOVE NORMAL, AT 66.7F. 
LASTLY, HOULTON WAS ABOUT 0.6F ABOVE AVERAGE, WITH A SEASONAL 
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 64.2F. 

THIS SUMMER SEASON HAD SOME ABOVE AVERAGE MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES WITH 
SOME HOT SPELLS THAT OCCURRED THROUGHOUT THE STATE. ONE SUCH HOT DAY 
WAS JUNE 24TH. BANGOR SAW A HIGH OF 98F THAT DAY, WHICH TIED THE 
RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH OF JUNE. THE RECORD WAS 
PREVIOUSLY SET ON JUNE 27TH, 1941. IN ADDITION, IT WAS THE HOTTEST 
DAY IN BANGOR SINCE JULY 14TH, 1995 (99F). RECORDS IN BANGOR DATE 
BACK TO 1925. HOULTON SAW A HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 92F, WHICH SET A NEW 
DAILY RECORD. HIGH TEMPERATURES FELL SHORT OF RECORDS IN MILLINOCKET 
AND CARIBOU ON JUNE 24TH. 

ANOTHER HOT STRETCH OCCURRED AUGUST 10TH-13TH, WHERE CARIBOU WAS 
ABOVE 90F FOR FOUR CONSECUTIVE DAYS. THIS TIED THE RECORD FOR 
LONGEST STREAK OF DAYS AT OR ABOVE 90F IN CARIBOU. ADDITIONALLY, IT 
WAS THE WARMEST FOUR-DAY STRETCH ON RECORD FOR CARIBOU WHEN 
AVERAGING BOTH HIGH AND LOW TEMPERATURES (79.0F). THE PREVIOUS 
WARMEST STRETCH WAS JULY 26TH-29TH, 1963 (78.9F). RECORDS IN CARIBOU 
DATE BACK TO 1939.

IN TERMS OF SEVERE WEATHER ACTIVITY, THERE WERE OVERALL ABOUT 40 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNINGS ISSUED, 3 FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS ISSUED, 
AND 6 TORNADO WARNINGS ISSUED. ON JUNE 5TH, MULTIPLE THUNDERSTORMS 
ROLLED THROUGH NORTHERN MAINE, RESULTING IN NUMEROUS TREES DOWN, 
COVERING VARIOUS ROADS THROUGHOUT THE NORTH. FLASH FLOODING ON JULY 
3RD RESULTED IN DAMAGED AND ERODED TREES, WITH INDICATIONS OF WATER 
MOVEMENT OVER ROADS IN PISCATAQUIS COUNTY. FLASH FLOODING ON JULY 
17TH CAUSED SIGNIFICANT FLOOD DAMAGE IN NORTHERN SOMERSET COUNTY, 
WITH MULTIPLE CULVERTS AND DITCHES DESTROYED. ON THIS SAME DAY, 6 
TORNADO WARNINGS WERE ISSUED BASED ON SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH 
ROTATION SIGNATURES. NONE OF THESE TORNADOES WERE OFFICIALLY 
VERIFIED, HOWEVER. HURRICANE ERIN DID MOVE TO OUR SOUTHWEST IN THE 
ATLANTIC OCEAN, MAINLY CAUSING SOME HIGH SURF ADVISORIES ALONG OUR 
COASTLINES. 

A BIG STORY FOR THE SUMMER SEASON WAS THE SIGNIFICANTLY BELOW 
AVERAGE RAINFALL. THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER SEASON, CARIBOU GOT THE MOST 
RAIN  OUT OF OUR STATIONS, RECEIVING 10.24 INCHES OF RAIN, WHICH IS 
ABOUT 1.49 INCHES BELOW CLIMATOLOGICAL NORMAL. BANGOR ONLY RECEIVED 
5.44 INCHES OF RAIN THIS SUMMER, RESULTING IN A 4.65 DEFICIT FROM 
CLIMATOLOGICAL NORMAL.  MILLINOCKET RECEIVED 7.64 INCHES OF RAIN, 
WHICH IS 4.52 INCHES OF RAIN BELOW NORMAL. LASTLY, HOULTON GOT 8.57 
INCHES OF RAIN THIS SUMMER, WHICH IS A 2.62 INCH DEFICIT FROM 
NORMAL. STARTING IN JUNE, NORTHERN MAINE WAS NOT IN DROUGHT. AS OF 
THE END OF AUGUST, THIS IS NOW OFFICIALLY THE 3RD DRIEST SUMMER FOR 
BANGOR, BEHIND 1949 AND 1957. COASTAL MAINE FINISHED SUMMER 2025 IN 
A D2 SEVERE DROUGHT. MEANWHILE, DOWNEAST AND CENTRAL MAINE IN A D1 
MODERATE DROUGHT, AND NORTHEASTERN MAINE IN D0 ABNORMALLY DRY. THE 
NORTH WOODS REGION IN NORTHWESTERN AROOSTOOK WAS THE ONLY DROUGHT-
FREE REGION AT SUMMER’S END. 

FOR THE NEXT SEASONAL OUTLOOK GIVEN BY THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER 
(CPC), LOOKING AT AN ELEVATED RISK OF ABOVE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES FOR 
METEOROLOGICAL FALL (SEPTEMBER THROUGH NOVEMBER). THERE IS NOT A 
STRONG SIGNAL FOR ABOVE OR BELOW AVERAGE PRECIPITATION FOR THIS TIME 
FRAME, HOWEVER. TYPICAL AVERAGE TEMPERATURES IN THE CARIBOU AREA ARE 
IN THE 50S IN SEPTEMBER, 40S IN OCTOBER, AND 30S IN NOVEMBER. FROST 
DOES START TO BECOME A CONCERN BEGINNING IN SEPTEMBER, AS OVERNIGHT 
LOWS BEGIN TO CREEP DOWN TO BELOW FREEZING. SNOW IS EXPECTED TO 
BEGIN TO FALL IN METEOROLOGICAL FALL. NORMAL AMOUNTS OF SNOW IN THE 
CARIBOU AREA BEGINS IN OCTOBER, WITH TYPICALLY ONLY 1-2 INCHES 
FALLING, AND NOVEMBER TYPICALLY SEEING UP TO 10 INCHES BAKED ON 
CLIMATE NORMALS.

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ASB/NC

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