CARIBOU, Maine — Along with being remembered for its above-average temperatures, this winter will go down as having “significantly below-average” snowfall and snow depth, according to meteorologists at the National Weather Service in Caribou.
Total liquid precipitation, the number indicating the amount of rain, sleet and melting snow, was above average for the region as a whole, with 10.35 inches having fallen from December 2015 through the end of February, National Weather Service meteorologist Corey Bogel said Monday.
The well-above-average temperatures, however, resulted in above the normal number of rain and mixed precipitation events, which reduced the amount of snowfall for the season, Bogel said as the weather service posted its seasonal climate narrative for northern and central Maine.
Ironically, the announcement came the same day the National Weather Service reported a low-pressure system was expected to bring freezing rain and light snow to northern and western parts of the state late Monday and into Tuesday.
While only an inch of powder was expected in some areas, the weather service posted a winter weather advisory effective midnight through 2 p.m. Tuesday, with sleet, freezing rain and a thin glaze of ice expected to make driving conditions hazardous.
Referring to the seasonal report, Bogel said Monday that more than one significant heavy rain event occurred across the region each month this winter. This resulted in the region only receiving about 60 to 80 percent of average snowfall for the meteorological winter, which is December, January and February.
Caribou, which measured 55.9 inches of snow this season, marked its 17th least snowiest winter of record. The total of 36.1 inches of snow in Bangor ranked about eighth least snowiest.
There were a total of 13 days with a high temperature over 40 degrees in Caribou, according to Bogel, which tied with the winter of 1980-81 for the most on record for a winter season. There were 36 days with a high above freezing, which was a record surpassing the 35 days above
freezing during the winter of 1953-54.
In Bangor, there were a total of 34 days with a high temperature above 40 degrees, which was the most on record. There were 61 days with a high above freezing, the most on record. That
surpassed the 58 days that were observed in the winter of 1998-99.
There were only 11 nights with a low temperature below zero in Caribou, the least on record. In Bangor, there were only six nights with a low below zero. Bogel said that while this was not a record, it was well below the long term average of 16.
He also said that the snowpack, which is the amount of snow on the ground, was only 50 percent of average this season. The 6.6 inch average snow depth in Caribou was the 11th lowest, and the 2.9 inch average in Bangor was tied as eighth lowest.
“There were times in Bangor when the snowpack was zero,” he said Monday. “At Caribou, we always had some on the ground.”
This winter is officially going down in the books as the warmest winter on record in the Caribou area, with an average temperature of 21.6 degrees, officials at the National Weather Service said last month.
In Bangor, where the average temperature over the last three months has been 26.8 degrees, the winter was the fourth warmest on record.
Bogel said that El Nino played a partial role in the record setting winter and the changes in the precipitation and snowpack levels. El Nino is a weather phenomenon caused by periodic warming in areas of the Pacific Ocean. The changing ocean temperatures can alter atmospheric conditions and affect weather patterns around the world.