Public Information Statement
Issued by NWS Caribou, ME
Issued by NWS Caribou, ME
538 NOUS41 KCAR 012147 PNSCAR MEZ001>006-010-011-015>017-029>032-021000- Public Information Statement National Weather Service Caribou ME 447 PM EST Sun Dec 1 2024 ...NOVEMBER 2024 CLIMATE NARRATIVE FOR NORTHERN/EASTERN MAINE... NOVEMBER 2024 WAS MUCH WARMER THAN NORMAL WITH BELOW AVERAGE PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE REGION. TEMPERATURES RANGED FROM 4 TO 6 DEGREES (F) ABOVE THE 1991-2020 NORMALS. IN CARIBOU, IT WAS THE WARMEST NOVEMBER ON RECORD, BESTING 2011 BY 0.3F. SIX OF THE TOP 10 WARMEST NOVEMBERS HAVE BEEN OBSERVED SINCE 2006. IN BANGOR, IT TIED WITH 1934 AND 2016 AS THE 4TH WARMEST NOVEMBER ON RECORD. iT WAS ALSO THE 4TH WARMEST NOVEMBER ON RECORD IN MILLINOCKET, AND A TIE WITH 1953 FOR THE 6TH WARMEST IN HOULTON. PRECIPITATION RANGED FROM 50 TO 90 PERCENT OF NORMAL WITH MUCH OF THE PRECIPITATION FALLING DURING THE LAST THIRD OF THE MONTH. SNOWFALL WAS MOSTLY BELOW AVERAGE, BUT WAS A BIT ABOVE AVERAGE IN PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN PISCATAQUIS COUNTY AND SOUTHERN AROOSTOOK COUNTY. TEMPERATURES MOST OF THE MONTH WERE MILD. THERE WAS ONLY ONE NIGHT ALL MONTH IN CARIBOU AND BANGOR WHEN LOWS DROPPED INTO THE TEENS. ONLY 1948, 2009, AND 2016 HAD FEWER NIGHTS (NONE OBSERVED) WITH A LOW IN THE TEENS IN CARIBOU. RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES WERE OBSERVED ACROSS THE REGION ON THE 6TH WITH WIDESPREAD HIGHS IN THE 70S. IN CARIBOU THE HIGH OF 72F WAS THE 2ND WARMEST HIGH TEMPERATURE SO LATE IN THE SEASON. IN BANGOR, THE HIGH OF 75F TIED WITH 1938 FOR THE WARMEST TEMPERATURE EVER OBSERVED SO LATE IN THE SEASON. THE MOST SIGNIFICANT EVENT OF THE MONTH WAS A SNOWSTORM ON THE 28TH INTO THE 29TH THAT PRODUCED AS MUCH AS 15 INCHES OF SNOW AT PARKMAN IN PISCATAQUIS COUNTY, AND 13 INCHES AT HAMMOND IN AROOSTOOK COUNTY. ELSEWHERE ACROSS THE REGION, AMOUNTS MOSTLY RANGED FROM 3 TO 8 INCHES. THERE WERE SOME AREAS ALONG THE COAST WHERE SNOWFALL WAS AN INCH OR LESS. TEMPERATURES DURING THE STORM WERE VERY CLOSE TO FREEZING LEADING TO SLICK TRAVEL AND NUMEROUS ACCIDENTS. THERE WAS NO SNOW ON THE GROUND AT THE START OF THE MONTH. BY THE END OF THE MONTH, THE SNOW DEPTH RANGED FROM 4 TO 10 INCHES ACROSS FAR NORTHERN MAINE WITH 2 INCHES IN BANGOR AND LITTLE/NO SNOW ALONG THE IMMEDIATE COAST. ICE WAS JUST STARTING TO FORM AT THE END OF THE MONTH ON NORTHERN PONDS WITH FRAZIL ICE ON NORTHERN RIVERS. BY THE END OF THE MONTH, MOST OF THE REGION WAS IN MODERATE DROUGHT (D1) WITH THE EXCEPTION OF NORTHWEST MAINE WHERE IT WAS ABNORMALLY DRY (D0). THE WET WEATHER AND SNOW THAT OCCURRED LATE IN THE MONTH WAS BENEFICIAL FOR THE DROUGHT, BUT NOT ENOUGH TO SIGNIFICANTLY EASE CONDITIONS. THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER`S (CPC) OUTLOOK FOR DECEMBER 2024 INDICATES THAT THERE ARE NO STRONG CLIMATE SIGNALS THAT POINT TOWARD ABOVE OR BELOW AVERAGE TEMPERATURES OR PRECIPITATION. AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURES RANGE FROM THE THE LOW 30S TO NEAR 40 DEGREES (FROM NORTH TO SOUTH) AT THE START OF THE MONTH. BY THE END OF THE MONTH, AVERAGE HIGHS RANGE FROM THE LOW 20S TO NEAR 30 DEGREES. AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURES RANGE FROM THE LOW 30S AT THE START OF THE MONTH DOWNEAST, TO THE LOW TEENS BY THE END OF THE MONTH. ACROSS THE FAR NORTH, AVERAGE LOWS DROP FROM THE UPPER TEENS AT THE START OF THE MONTH TO THE SINGLE DIGITS BY THE END OF THE MONTH. LIQUID PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH OF DECEMBER AVERAGES BETWEEN 3.50 AND 4.00 INCHES ACROSS THE REGION. SNOWFALL IN CARIBOU FOR DECEMBER AVERAGES 25.2 INCHES, WHILE IN BANGOR SNOWFALL AVERAGES 14.7 INCHES. DECEMBER IS RARELY THE COLDEST MONTH OF THE WINTER ACROSS NORTHERN AND EASTERN MAINE WITH ONLY A HANDFUL OF DECEMBERS ENDING UP AS THE COLDEST WINTER MONTH. THE WINTER SOLSTICE THIS YEAR WILL OCCUR ON THE 21ST AT 4:19 AM. $$ CB/NC