CARIBOU, Maine — Pam McBride of Houlton said Tuesday that she is “thrilled” that her flowers seem to be flourishing more abundantly this season.
What she is less enthusiastic about, she admitted, was that a cool, damp June allowed her fewer sunny days to go outside and enjoy her garden.
“The whole month seemed to be hit or miss,” she said Tuesday. “One day you were outside in shorts and a T-shirt, the next you were wearing a sweatshirt.”
June in Aroostook County was cool and rainy, leaving few days for swimming and sunbathing, according to the National Weather Service in Caribou.
Lupins flourish off Smyrna Street in Houlton on Tuesday, July 2, 2019. June has been cool and damp in Aroostook County, according to the National Weather Service in Caribou, leaving fewer days for gardening but allowing flowers and crops to flourish.
(Jen Lynds)
Temperatures were slightly below average and northern and eastern Maine received mostly above normal rainfall.
Temperatures ranged from the near normal average temperature of 71.4 degrees to 1.5 degrees below normal across the region. The last significant frost took place on June 1, according to the weather service, but the month was otherwise marked by mostly cool daytime high temperatures.
The first time that the temperature reached 80 degrees was on June 19, making it the seventh latest first occurrence of such a temperature since record keeping began in 1939.
The record high temperature for the month, 96 degrees, was set on June 29, 1944. The record low, 30 degrees, was recorded on June 7, 1958.
Last month, a high temperature of 80 degrees was recorded on June 19 and June 28 in Caribou. Houlton saw a high of 81 degrees on June 27.
The lowest temperature, 38 degrees, occurred on June 1 and June 7 in Caribou.
Most towns and cities in the region only received two or three days in which the temperature reached 80 degrees or higher.
In far northern Maine, communities like Frenchville never saw an 80-degree day last month. This is atypical of June, according to the weather service, as the month usually has approximately five to nine days in which temperatures reach 80 degrees or higher.
The heaviest rainfall occurred over central and Down East Maine. In Bangor, June was the 11th wettest month since record keeping began in 1925 with 5.33 inches, but it was well short of the monthly record of 8.10 inches recorded in 2009. Houlton received 4.20 inches of rainfall, which was 0.55 inches above normal. Caribou saw 2.91 inches, which was still 0.57 inches below average.
The most rainfall ever recorded in June, 9.03 inches, fell in 2011. The least, 0.88 inches, fell in June 1983.
