CARIBOU — As the National Weather Service on Monday reported near record high average temperatures for the last two months in parts of Maine, February kicked off with temperatures in the 50s across the state.
Millinocket set a new record for Feb. 1 with a high of 51, besting the previous record of 48 set on that date in 1913, according to Meteorologist Mark Bloomer of the NWS Caribou office.
The highest temperature registered in Maine on Monday was 59 in both Portland and Sanford, but no records were set there, according to Meteorologist Nicky Becker of the NWS Gray office.
Bar Harbor hit 57, as did a spot about one mile northwest of Bangor, according to Bloomer. Bangor International Airport registered a high of 55.
The first day of February continued the warm trend experienced across parts of Maine over the last two months.
The combined December-January time period was the warmest on record in both the Caribou and Bangor areas by more than 2 degrees, surpassing the winter of 2001-2002 when the average temperature was 26.2 degrees, according to the NWS.
January ended as the fifth warmest first month of the year on record in Caribou with an average temperature of 18.2 degrees, behind only January 2006, 2010, 1958 and the all-time warmest January in 1956, which averaged 21.3 degrees.
Bangor saw the 12th warmest January on record, with an average temperature of 22.4 degrees.
The high January temperatures came on the heels of a December that was the warmest on record in Caribou, Bangor and Portland. According to figures provided by the weather service, in Caribou, the average temperature of 28.5 degrees in December was 10.3 degrees above the 30-year average. At Bangor, the average temperature of 34 degrees in December was 9.4 degrees above the average.
Portland’s average of 37.9 degrees in December was about 9 degrees higher than normal and topped the previous record of 36.2 degrees registered in 1881, according to the NWS.
Bloomer said Monday that El Nino, a weather phenomenon caused by periodic warming in areas of the Pacific Ocean, is partially responsible for the record-setting temperatures. The changing ocean temperatures can alter atmospheric conditions and affect weather patterns around the world.
“There are many factors coming into play here, but El Nino may have something to do with it,” Bloomer said.
The meteorologist also said that another weather pattern, called a split flow, is influencing the weather in Maine. This occurs when the jet stream veers off into two separate branches, and in this case, pulls the cold air farther north.
Temperatures were expected to drop Tuesday to a high of near 20 degrees in Caribou, about freezing in Bangor, and 38 in Portland.
