CARIBOU, Maine — Ending a trend of above average temperatures recorded over the three previous months, June finished with a below normal average, according to the National Weather Service.
From March through May in the region, temperatures on whole were above average, with Caribou recording its 16th warmest spring on record and Bangor its 23rd warmest spring, according to meteorologist Mark Bloomer of the NWS Caribou office. That changed last month when temperatures across the northern part of the state ranged from 1 to 3 degrees below average.
Despite the change, there were several days last month when temperatures reached into the mid-80s. Houlton saw a high temperature of 85 degrees on June 1, while Caribou saw a high of 84 degrees on June 27. Millinocket saw a high of 86 degrees on June 13. The highest temperature ever set in Millinocket in June is 101 degrees, recorded on June 18, 1907. The record low was 0 degrees, registered just two years ago on June 23, 2016. In Bangor, the thermometer hit 88 degrees on June 16, which was 12 degrees shy of the record high of 98 degrees for the month recorded on June 27, 1941. The city saw its lowest temperature, 37 degrees, on June 4. That still was 8 degrees above its record low of 29 set on June 3, 1939.
The average daily high in Bangor in June is 70.4 degrees. The highest temperature ever recorded in June since NWS record keeping began in 1939 was 96 degrees on June 29, 1944. The lowest temperature ever recorded in June was 30 degrees on June 7, 1958.
There were multiple days in which cool nights were experienced last month, including five nights when it dropped into the 30’s in Caribou — the most that has happened since 2002. There were nine such nights recorded in Houlton last month, the most since 2000. Some of the normally colder valleys in northwest Maine had light frosts well into the second half of the month and Estcourt Station saw a low temperature of 29 degrees on June 22.
Forecasters said that very little rain fell during the first half of the month, making for very dry conditions. Rainfall became more frequent as the month progressed, with significant rainfall on June 28 and into June 29. Several locations in Hancock and Washington Counties saw more than two inches of rain.
Precipitation was more variable, and ranged from 50 to 90 percent of normal across most areas from the Katahdin Region north to the St. John Valley and from 90 to 150 percent of normal Down East. Caribou received 3.16 inches of precipitation last month, which was 0.32 inches below average. Houlton received 3.29 inches of rain, which was 0.36 inches below average. In Millinocket, 2.57 inches fell, which was 1.50 inches below normal. Bangor, however, received 5.42 inches of rain, which is 1.66 inches above average.
