CARIBOU, Maine — Karen Michaels of Presque Isle had spent Labor Day weekend doing what a lot of other parents in Aroostook County and across the state had been doing — moving her daughter into a college residence hall for the first time.
“The weather was wonderful over the weekend,” she said. “It was bright and sunny and the weather was so warm. It was a great start to September.”
So she was hoping that Labor Day, her one day off during the holiday weekend, would be nice. Her hopes were dashed when she awakened to a cool, rainy Monday in The County.
The weather was a stark contrast to this time last year, according to the National Weather Service in Caribou. Last year on Labor Day, it was 84 degrees in Caribou and 90 degrees in Bangor. This year, temperatures were around 60 degrees in Caribou and 66 degrees in Bangor, according to the NWS.
Caribou saw 2.51 inches of precipitation in August, which was 1.25 inches below normal.
In contrast, Bangor saw 7.54 inches, which made it the second wettest August on record. This was just behind 2011, when 8.32 inches of rain fell, making it the wettest August.
According to the weather service, Bangor had its wettest summer on record, receiving 17.33 inches of rain. Caribou had its fifth driest summer on record, with only 7.91 inches of rain.
The weather throughout the month of August was mostly sunny with slightly above-average temperatures throughout the region, according to forecasters. Rainfall ranged from below normal across the north to above average across Down East areas.
The average temperature for the month was 76 degrees, which was 1.7 degrees above the monthly average of 74.3 degrees.
Temperatures ranged from 0.3 degrees below average at Houlton to 1.5 degrees above average at Caribou.
What was unusual for August, according to the NWS, was that there were no 90-degree days during the month. Most locations only experienced high temperatures in the mid-80s. Caribou saw its highest temperature, 85 degrees, on Aug. 6. Bangor saw the same temperature on Aug. 5. The record high temperature for August — 95 degrees — was set in 1975, and on two days in 1944.
