NEW LIMERICK, Maine — Throughout the summer, Jessica Blake said Friday, she and her four boys spend a large amount of time swimming at their favorite spot on Nickerson Lake in New Limerick. The 39-year-old admitted that she usually stops swimming herself by September, however, finding the water too cool for her liking. This year, however, she hasn’t had that experience.
“I was actually just in the water with them two days ago,” she said Friday. “Whether it is the weather or some kind of change in my tolerance, I was right in there with them for 15 minutes before I had to get out.”
According to Vic Nouhan, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Caribou, this summer’s forecast likely has been a factor. Nouhan said late Friday afternoon that Bangor saw an average high temperature of 69.9 degrees in August, while Caribou had an average high temperature of 66.6 degrees. He added that August temperatures generally averaged 1.5 to 3.5 degrees above average across the region. It ranked as the fourth-warmest August on record at Bangor, and the sixth-warmest at Caribou.
Portland also saw its warmest August since records started being kept in 1940, according to Michael Cempa, meteorologist at the NWS in Gray. He said that the average temperature in the city last month was 71.8 degrees. That beat out the highest previous temperature of 71.3 degrees set in 1969.
Portland also saw a record-setting average temperature for the summer, which encompasses the months of June, July and August. Those three months averaged out to a top temperature of 68.9 degrees, easing out the reading of 68.7 degrees set in 2010.
There were 13 days with a high of 80 degrees or warmer at Caribou during August, which was well above the long-term average of seven days. At Bangor, there were 23 days with a high of 80 degrees or warmer, which tied with 1996 for the most on record during the month of August.
Nouhan said that the high temperatures had to do with upper level ridges, which pushed the jet stream north, leading to less precipitation in southern Maine.
“We saw more precipitation up north and a decent amount in the Caribou area,” he said. “We also saw some thunderstorms due to cold fronts.”
A total of 5.89 inches of rain was observed at Caribou, which was 2.13 inches above average, and made it the 11th wettest August on record. Lesser amounts were recorded in southern Maine. At Bangor, only 2.24 inches of rain was observed, which made it the driest August since 2010.
Severe thunderstorms were limited to Aug. 6 and Aug. 11. A thunderstorm affected the Caribou area early on the morning of Aug. 11 with 1.5-inch-diameter hail, which caused damage to vehicles and roofs in the area.