CARIBOU, Maine — Moving back to Aroostook County after 20 years spent living in four different states on the west coast, Janice Bouchard has spent the past four years trying to convince her sister, who lives in California, to visit for the summer.
“Finally, she agreed to do it this year,” she said. “So I spent the last few months hoping for a good weather so that we could enjoy the outdoors. I got my wish and we are having a great time, but the only thing that I didn’t think about was how the lack of rain would impact my garden.”
Gardeners have had to do more watering than usual this summer due to below average precipitation that has accumulated over the summer, according to statistics provided by the National Weather Service in Caribou. Forecasters said that during the three month period that started in June, this summer has featured both a smaller amount of precipitation while experiencing near average temperatures.
Through Aug. 17, the average temperature this summer at Caribou of 64.2 degrees is 0.5 degrees above the 30-year average, according to meteorologists. At Bangor, the average temperature this summer of 66.5 degrees is 0.5 degree below the 30-year average. There have been 20 days this meteorological summer with a high of 80 degrees or warmer at Caribou, which is just one shy of the average. At Bangor, there have been a total of 36 days with a high of 80F or warmer, which is just one above average.
At Caribou, a total of 8.90 inches of rain has been observed since June 1, which is eight tenths of an inch below average. That makes this summer the driest since 2009. At Bangor, a total of only 7.14 inches of rain has been observed, which is 1.81 inches below average. Although quite dry, last summer was a bit drier with only 6.98 inches of rain observed from June 1 through Aug. 17. Meteorologists said that there have been few incidents of severe weather this summer, with the exception of two EF-1 tornadoes that were observed on Aug. 5. The first was just to the northeast of Millinocket in Penobscot County, and the 2nd was in Sherman in Aroostook County.
Southern Maine has also been impacted by a lack of rain. The city picked up 2.62 inches of rain in June, which is 1.17 inches below normal, according to the NWS in Gray. The average temperature for the month was 65 degrees, which was 1.6 degrees above normal and the sixth warmest June on record.
Portland also saw 1.05 inches in July, which is 2.56 inches below normal. It was the tenth driest such month on record. The city experienced an average temperature of 69 degrees, which was 0.1 degrees below normal and the coldest July since 2009.
