April 2025 Monthly Narrative for Northern and Eastern Maine

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...APRIL 2025 CLIMATE NARRATIVE FOR NORTHERN/EASTERN MAINE...

APRIL 2025 FEATURED NORMAL TO ABOVE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES AND ABOVE 
NORMAL PRECIPITATION FOR NORTHERN AND EASTERN MAINE. 

TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE REGION RANGED FROM NORMAL TO 1.5 DEGREES (F) 
ABOVE THE 1991-2020 AVERAGES. NO MAJOR CLIMATE SITE FINISHED IN THE 
TOP 10 WARMEST FOR THE MONTH OF APRIL. THE WARMEST TEMPERATURES CAME 
ON THE 28TH AND 29TH WHEN MOST INLAND LOCATIONS SAW HIGH 
TEMPERATURES IN THE 70S. THE REST OF THE MONTH SAW TEMPERATURES 
FLUCTUATE WITHIN A FEW DEGREES OF NORMAL DAILY VALUES.

PRECIPITATION (RAIN AND MELTED SNOW) WAS GENERALLY 110 TO 160 
PERCENT OF NORMAL. IN CARIBOU, 4.01 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION FELL 
DURING THE MONTH. THIS TIED APRIL 1982 FOR THE 10TH WETTEST APRIL ON 
RECORD. RECORDS IN CARIBOU DATE BACK TO 1939. IN HOULTON, 4.46 
INCHES OF PRECIPITATION FELL. THIS MADE APRIL 2025 THE 6TH WETTEST 
APRIL ON RECORD AND THE WETTEST APRIL SINCE 2005. RECORDS IN HOULTON 
DATE BACK TO 1948. 

PRECIPITATION IN BANGOR AND MILLINOCKET FOR THE MONTH FELL SHORT OF 
THE TOP 10 WETTEST APRILS ON RECORD. RECORDS IN BANGOR DATE TO 1925. 
IN MILLINCOKET, RECORDS DATE TO 1903.

SNOWFALL WAS GENERALLY NEAR AVERAGE FROM AROUND MOOSEHEAD LAKE 
NORTHWARD, AND BELOW AVERAGE TO THE SOUTH. IN CARIBOU, 8.7 INCHES OF 
SNOW FELL DURING THE MONTH, SLIGHTLY ABOVE THE (1991-2020) AVERAGE 
SNOWFALL OF 8.3 INCHES. IT WAS THE SNOWIEST APRIL IN CARIBOU SINCE 
2021 (8.9 INCHES). IN BANGOR, 1.0 INCH OF SNOW FELL, WHICH WAS BELOW 
THE AVERAGE OF 3.7 INCHES. 

THE LARGEST SNOW EVENT OF THE MONTH IN NORTHERN AROOSTOOK COUNTY 
OCCURRED ON THE 5TH AND 6TH. GENERALLY 3 TO 5 INCHES OF SNOW FELL 
NORTH OF MARS HILL. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN CARIBOU 
RECEIVED 4.9 INCHES OF SNOW LITTLE OR NO SNOW WAS REPORTED WITH THIS 
EVENT FURTHER SOUTH. THE FINAL SNOW EVENT OF THE MONTH CAME ON THE 
13TH AND 14TH. 2 TO 4 INCHES OF SNOW FELL OVER NORTHEASTERN 
AROOSTOOK COUNTY, INCLUDING 3 INCHES IN CARIBOU. AMOUNTS OUTSIDE OF 
THIS AREA WERE UNDER 2 INCHES.

FURTHER SOUTH, THE LARGEST SNOW EVENT OCCURRED ON THE 8TH AND 9TH. A 
BAND OF 3 TO 7 INCHES OF SNOW FELL FROM THE MOOSEHEAD LAKE AREA 
EASTWARD TO NORTHERN PENOBSCOT COUNTY AND WASHINGTON COUNTY. 1 TO 3 
INCHES OF SNOW FELL SOUTH OF THE BAND, INCLUDING 1.0 INCH AT BANGOR 
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. AMOUNTS TO THE NORTH OF THE BAND WERE LESS 
THAN 3 INCHES, WITH NO MEASURABLE SNOW BEING REPORTED OVER 
NORTHEASTERN AROOSTOOK COUNTY.

AT THE START OF THE MONTH, THERE WAS NO SNOW ON THE GROUND NEAR 
BANGOR AND DOWNEAST. ANYWHERE FROM A TRACE TO 6 INCHES WERE ON THE 
GROUND FROM THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS INTO EASTERN AROOSTOOK COUNTY. IN 
THE NORTH WOODS, 6 TO 18 INCHES WERE ON THE GROUND, WITH THE 
GREATEST AMOUNTS AT HIGHER ELEVATIONS. THERE WAS A TRACE TO 2 INCHES 
OF SNOW WATER EQUIVALENT IN THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS TO EASTERN 
AROOSTOOK COUNTY. HIGHER ELEVATIONS IN THE NORTH WOODS HAD 5 TO 7 
INCHES OF SNOW-WATER EQUIVALENT AT THE START OF APRIL. 

SNOW COVER ACROSS THE NORTH PEAKED FOLLOWING THE SNOW EVENT ON THE 
5TH AND 6TH. MOST PLACES HAD 5 TO 15 INCHES OF SNOW ON THE GROUND, 
WITH SOME HIGHER TERRAIN SPOTS SEEING UP TO 20 INCHES OF SNOW COVER. 
SNOW-LIQUID EQUIVALENTS AT THAT TIME WERE GENERALLY 1 TO 5 INCHES, 
WITH UP TO 8 INCHES In THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF THE NORTH WOODS. THIS 
SNOW COVER WAS COMPLETELY GONE BY THE END OF THE MONTH.

REMAINING ICE ON THE SAINT JOHN AND ALLAGASH RIVERS WAS OUT BY THE 
THIRD WEEK OF APRIL. MOOSEHEAD LAKE REPORTED ICE OUT ON APRIL 29TH. 
THIS WAS THE LATEST ICE OUT FOR MOOSEHEAD LAKE SINCE 2020 (MAY 4TH). 
HOWEVER, THIS WAS NOWHERE NEAR THE RECORD LATE ICE OUT OF 1878 (MAY 
29TH). A FEW LAKES IN THE NORTH WOODS STILL HAD SOME ICE LEFT AT THE 
END OF THE MONTH.

THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER'S (CPC) OUTLOOK FOR MAY 2025 INDICATES 
THAT THERE IS AN ELEVATED RISK OF ABOVE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES IN 
NORTHERN AND EASTERN MAINE. HOWEVER, THE CPC'S OUTLOOK SHOWS NO 
STRONG CLIMATE SIGNALS FOR ABOVE OR BELOW AVERAGE PRECIPITATION 
(RAIN AND MELTED SNOW). 

AT THE START OF THE MONTH OF MAY, AVERAGE HIGHS RANGE FROM THE MID 
50S IN THE NORTH, TO AROUND 60 DEGREES IN BANGOR. AVERAGE LOWS RANGE 
FROM THE MID 30S IN THE NORTH TO NEAR 40 DEGREES AT THE COAST. BY 
THE END OF THE MONTH, AVERAGE HIGHS RISE TO THE UPPER 60S FOR MOST 
OF THE AREA, AND NEAR 70 DEGREES IN BANGOR.

ON AVERAGE, 3 TO 4 INCHES OF LIQUID PRECIPITATION IS OBSERVED ACROSS 
THE AREA DURING THE MONTH OF MAY. SNOW CAN STILL FALL DURING THE 
MONTH OF MAY. HOWEVER, ANY SNOW GENERALLY MELTS QUICKLY AFTER IT 
FALLS OWING TO HIGHER SUN ANGLE AND WARMER TEMPERATURES. AT CARIBOU, 
THE AVERAGE SNOWFALL FOR MAY IS 0.8 INCHES. MEASURABLE SNOW HAS 
OCCURRED IN 23 YEARS SINCE 1939, MOST RECENTLY IN 2020. AT LEAST A 
TRACE OF SNOW HAS FALLEN IN AT LEAST 63 YEARS SINCE RECORDS BEGAN, 
MOST RECENTLY IN 2023. FROST CAN OCCUR AT ANY TIME OF THE MONTH 
ACROSS NORTHERN VALLEYS, BUT BECOMES LESS COMMON BY MID TO LATE 
MONTH ACROSS THE DOWNEAST REGION. THUNDERSTORMS BECOME INCREASINGLY 
COMMON IN MAY AWAY FROM THE COAST, ESPECIALLY LATER IN THE MONTH.