January saw slightly above average temperatures, below average precipitation and snowfall and below average snow depth by the end of the month throughout northern and eastern Maine, according to National Weather Service reports.
Caribou saw 7.8 inches less snowfall than average, ending January with a total of 17.2 inches of snowfall over the month. Bangor saw 6.2 inches less snowfall than average, ending January with a total of 12.4 inches of snowfall over the month.
Both Caribou and Bangor saw the least total snowfall in January since 2021.
At the beginning of January, there was no snow on the ground in Caribou, which has only occurred three other times since record keeping began; in 1983, 2002 and 2004. Caribou also set the record for shallowest maximum snow depth during the month of January, reaching just 5 inches snow depth at the height of snowfall. The shallowest maximum snow depth on record for Caribou during the month of January was previously 6 inches.
Looking forward to February totals, the average snowfall for the month in Bangor reaches 17.5 inches, while it typically reaches around 25.3 inches in Caribou.
A number of storms have already moved across the state to start off the month, showing promise for on-average monthly snowfall throughout February. The majority of snowfall in February typically falls in the second half of the month, and current weather models predict that temperatures will likely stay steady before rising slightly above average toward the end of the month.
Complete precipitation data for the month of January for southern and western Maine was not available from the Gray NWS office as of Friday.