CARIBOU, Maine — As Mainers and vacationers around the state headed out to parks, lakes, beaches or back decks to bid farewell to the traditional end of summer this Labor Day Monday, they were a lot warmer than last year at this time.
“The entire area is well above normal temperatures thanks to a southwest wind flow across the area,” Tim Duda, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Caribou, said Monday afternoon. “Most places in northern and Down East Maine with the exception of the coast will see temperatures in the mid to upper 80s.”
By early afternoon Monday, those temperatures had already risen to 86 degrees in Caribou, 87 degrees in Bangor and Portland, according to the weather service.
While well above the normal temperature for this date of 69 degrees in Caribou, Duda was confident the state would not see any records broken.
The record highs for Sept. 7 in Maine are 91 degrees in Caribou, 93 degrees in Houlton and 99 degrees in Bangor, all set in 1945.
“We are running 15 to as much as 20 degrees above normal,” Duda said. “But we will not come close to the records.”
Duda said the state is caught between high pressure off the mid-Atlantic and a low to the northwest, which is funneling the warm and muggy air over the area.
“It is quite muggy with dew points well in the upper 60s getting things into the uncomfortable range,” he said. “The only saving grace is that breeze, albeit a warm breeze.”
Winds around the state were reaching sustained speeds of 15 mph with gusts of 25 mph, according to the weather service.
Those winds were creating choppy conditions on lakes and ponds.
Things were expected to cool down by Tuesday when temperatures would be in the upper 70s and low 80s, according to Duda, and there was a chance of some thundershowers in northwestern Maine Monday afternoon.
In the meantime, the meteorologist had some advice for this Labor Day: “Drink lots of water and enjoy what’s left of this Maine summer.”
