CARIBOU, Maine — For the first time on Wednesday, Jessica McAfee of Houlton worked outside most of the afternoon in a tank top and shorts, pulling weeds from her garden, feeling the sun beat down on her shoulders.
“I couldn’t believe how hot it felt,” she said. “I mean, it has felt warm a number of days so far this June, but it hasn’t felt as hot as it did yesterday.”
There is a good reason for that, according to the National Weather Service in Caribou.
Wednesday was the first day of the summer in which a high of 80 degrees was recorded in Caribou. It was equally as warm in other parts of Aroostook County. Houlton, Presque Isle and Danforth all saw temperatures of 79 degrees, while it was 75 degrees in Patten and Eagle Lake. It was 77 degrees in Kokadjo, and 72 in Estcourt Station.
Farther south, Mainers experienced higher temperatures earlier in the season. Temperatures hit 83 degrees in Bangor on June 10, the warmest temperature recorded since Sept. 17, 2018.
The high of 80 degrees at Caribou on Wednesday is the seventh latest date for the first 80 degree day of the summer, according to the weather service.
The first 80 degree day of the year in Caribou was behind schedule this year, according to the weather service, as the average date for it to occur is May 23.
The summer of 2018 was the all-time warmest on record in the Caribou area, according to Mark Bloomer, meteorologist with the NWS in Caribou. It had an average temperature of 66.3 degrees, which eclipsed the previous record of 66 degrees set during the summer of 1973.
The weather service still has not had to issue a severe thunderstorm warning this spring or summer, and it has been 228 days since the last severe thunderstorm warning.
Linda Swimm of Presque Isle said that she was “thrilled” over this. In 2015, a thunderstorm that brought hail in June damaged the siding on her home.
“It was awful,” she said. “It was one of those storms that came out of nowhere and the wind, rain and hail just pounded right down on our house. We were not the only ones hit, either. I am hoping for more of the weather we saw on Wednesday.”
