408 CXUS51 KGYX 031740 CLAPWM PORTLAND CLIMATE DATA FOR THE YEAR 2012 NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAY ME 1240 PM EST THU JAN 3 2013 PORTLAND MAINE TIED FOR THE WARMEST YEAR ON RECORD AT THE PORTLAND JETPORT. ...STATISTICS... HERE ARE SOME OF THE CLIMATOLOGICAL STATISTICS AND A DISCUSSION OF THE WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE PAST YEAR. TEMPERATURE DATA YEAR 2012 NORMAL DEPARTURE AVG. MONTHLY 49.2 46.5 PLUS 2.7 AVG. MAXIMUM 58.1 55.8 PLUS 2.3 AVG. MINIMUM 40.3 37.2 PLUS 3.1 NUMBER OF DAYS: YEAR 2012 NORMAL MAXIMUM 90 OR ABOVE 4 3.8 PLUS 0.2 MAXIMUM 32 OR BELOW 26 39.8 MINUS 13.8 MINIMUM 32 OR BELOW 139 142.2 MINUS 3.2 MINIMUM 0 OR BELOW 3 6.9 MINUS 3.9 HIGHEST TEMPERATURE... 93 ON JUNE 20TH LOWEST TEMPERATURE... MINUS 4 ON JANUARY 16TH COLDEST HIGH... 13 ON JANUARY 15TH WARMEST LOW.... 70 ON AUGUST 5TH WARMEST DAY... JUNE 20TH AND JULY 14TH WITH AN AVERAGE OF 78 DEGREES COLDEST DAY... JANUARY 15TH WITH AN AVERAGE OF 6 DEGREES YEAR 2012 NORMAL DEPARTURE HEATING DEGREE DAYS 6165 7106 MINUS 941 COOLING DEGREE DAYS 492 360 PLUS 132 HEATING AND COOLING DEGREE DAYS LISTED ARE FOR THE CALENDAR YEAR. THE HEATING DEGREE DAY SEASON NORMALLY RUNS FROM JULY 1ST THROUGH JUNE 30TH...WHILE THE COOLING DEGREE SEASON NORMALLY RUNS FROM JANUARY 1ST THROUGH DECEMBER 31ST. PRECIPITATION 54.47 47.25 PLUS 7.22 SNOWFALL 62.9 61.9 PLUS 1.0 GREATEST PRECIPITATION IN 24 HOURS... 5.31 INCHES ON JUNE 2ND & 3RD GREATEST SNOWFALL IN 24 HOURS... 13.0 INCHES ON MARCH 1ST GREATEST SNOW DEPTH ON GROUND... 12 INCHES ON DECEMBER 30TH THE FOLLOWING DATA IS FOR A CALENDAR DAY /MIDNIGHT TO MIDNIGHT/... NUMBER OF DAYS WITH PRECIPITATION OF NORMAL DEPARTURE .01 INCH OR MORE 141 130.8 PLUS 10.2 .10 INCH OR MORE 81 79.5 PLUS 1.5 .50 INCH OR MORE 35 30.1 PLUS 4.9 1.00 INCH OR MORE 12 11.5 PLUS 0.5 NUMBER OF DAYS WITH SNOWFALL OF NORMAL DEPARTURE 1 WHOLE INCH OR MORE 12 15.9 MINUS 3.9 3 WHOLE INCHES OR MORE 6 9.0 MINUS 3.0 6 WHOLE INCHES OR MORE 4 3.6 PLUS 0.4 NUMBER OF DAYS WITH THUNDERSTORMS...15 17.6 MINUS 2.6 NUMBER OF DAYS WITH HEAVY FOG... 39 48.6 MINUS 9.6 (VISIBILITY 1/4 MILE OR LESS) ...PORTLAND MAINE 2012 MONTHLY TEMPERATURE DATA... (RANK: 1ST = WARMEST, 72ND = COLDEST) DEPARTURE MONTH AVG HIGH AVG LOW MEAN TEMP FROM NORMAL RANK JAN 35.4 18.4 26.9 PLUS 4.6 8TH (TIED) FEB 39.8 21.3 30.6 PLUS 5.1 5TH MAR 50.5 31.8 41.2 PLUS 7.7 1ST APR 57.9 36.0 47.0 PLUS 3.0 2ND (TIED) MAY 64.5 48.7 56.6 PLUS 2.7 4TH JUN 71.2 55.3 63.3 MINUS 0.1 29TH (TIED) JUL 81.1 61.5 71.3 PLUS 2.2 11TH AUG 79.8 61.8 70.8 PLUS 2.8 5TH SEP 69.0 50.8 59.9 MINUS 0.2 27TH (TIED) OCT 61.3 44.4 52.9 PLUS 4.1 3RD NOV 46.7 29.3 38.0 MINUS 1.4 44TH (TIED) DEC 39.8 24.1 32.0 PLUS 3.2 10TH (TIED) YEAR 58.1 40.3 49.2 PLUS 2.7 1ST (TIED) ...PORTLAND MAINE 2012 MONTHLY PRECIPITATION DATA... (RANK: 1ST = WETTEST, 142ND = DRIEST) MONTH PRECIPITATION DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL RANK JAN 4.29 PLUS 0.91 51ST FEB 1.47 MINUS 1.78 131ST MAR 2.05 MINUS 2.19 117TH APR 4.84 PLUS 0.52 36TH MAY 5.91 PLUS 1.90 17TH JUN 8.63 PLUS 4.84 5TH JUL 4.31 PLUS 0.70 27TH (TIED) AUG 6.21 PLUS 3.07 8TH SEP 3.80 PLUS 0.11 47TH OCT 3.64 MINUS 1.23 56TH NOV 1.02 MINUS 3.91 136TH DEC 8.30 PLUS 4.28 4TH YEAR 54.47 PLUS 7.22 17TH ...PORTLAND MAINE 2012 MONTHLY SNOWFALL DATA... (RANK: 1 = SNOWIEST, 131ST = LEAST SNOWIEST JAN. THROUGH JUNE 132ND = LEAST SNOWIEST JULY THROUGH DEC.) DEPARTURE MONTH SNOWFALL FROM NORMAL RANK JAN 18.7 MINUS 0.5 55TH (TIED) FEB 2.3 MINUS 9.8 125TH MAR 14.2 PLUS 1.5 42ND APR TRACE MINUS 2.8 93RD (TIED) MAY 0.0 NORMAL 23RD (TIED) JUN 0.0 NORMAL ----- JUL 0.0 NORMAL ----- AUG 0.0 NORMAL ----- SEP 0.0 NORMAL ----- OCT 0.0 MINUS TRACE 50TH (TIED) NOV 2.9 PLUS 1.0 46TH (TIED) DEC 24.8 PLUS 11.6 16TH YEAR 62.9 PLUS 1.0 ----- NOTE...SNOWFALL FOR THE YEAR IS GIVEN FOR THE CALENDAR YEAR. NORMALLY SNOWFALL TOTALS AND RANKINGS ARE GIVEN FOR THE SEASON ...FROM JULY 1ST THROUGH JUNE 30TH. STRONGEST WIND GUST... 63 MPH ON OCTOBER 29TH (HURRICANE SANDY) ...DISCUSSION... PORTLAND MAINE TIED AS THE WARMEST YEAR ON RECORD. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR 2012 WAS 49.2 DEGREES...TYING 2010 AS THE ALL TIME WARMEST YEAR AT THE PORTLAND JETPORT. THIS WAS ALSO 2.7 DEGREES WARMER THAN NORMAL. THE WARM YEAR WAS HIGHLIGHTED BY A VERY WARM SPRING IN PORTLAND. WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 48.3 DEGREES FROM MARCH THROUGH MAY PORTLAND RECORDED ITS SECOND WARMEST METEOROLOGICAL SPRING SINCE RECORDS BEGAN AT THE PORTLAND JETPORT. THIS FELL SHORT OF THE WARMEST SPRING OF 48.9 DEGREES SET JUST TWO YEARS AGO IN 2010 AND WAS 4.5 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. HERE IS A LIST OF THE WARMEST SPRINGS ON RECORD AT PORTLAND... RANK AVERAGE TEMP. YEAR 1 48.9 DEGREES 2010 2 48.3 DEGREES 2012 <=== 3 47.0 DEGREES 1991 4 46.4 DEGREES 1998 5 45.4 DEGREES 1981 6 45.1 DEGREES 1942 7 45.0 DEGREES 1945 45.0 DEGREES 1999 9 44.9 DEGREES 1986 44.9 DEGREES 2006 44.9 DEGREES 2009 COLDEST 37.9 DEGREES 1956 NORMAL 43.8 DEGREES 1981-2010 IT`S NOT SURPRISING THAT PORTLAND HAD SUCH A WARM SPRING CONSIDERING THE FOREST CITY ENJOYED THE WARMEST MARCH ON RECORD FOLLOWED BY THE 2ND WARMEST APRIL AND 4TH WARMEST MAY. MARCH HAD AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 41.2 DEGREES WHICH WAS AN ASTOUNDING 7.7 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. PORTLAND FOLLOWED THE EXCEPTIONALLY WARM SPRING WITH A VERY WARM SUMMER IN 2012 WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 68.5 DEGREES. THIS WAS 1.6 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL AND TIED 1973 AND 1991 AS THE 4TH WARMEST IN THE PAST 72 YEARS OF TEMPERATURE RECORDS AT THE PORTLAND JETPORT. HERE IS A LIST OF THE WARMEST SUMMERS IN PORTLAND... RANK TEMPERATURE DATE 1 68.7 DEGREES 1988 68.7 DEGREES 2010 3 68.6 DEGREES 1999 4 68.5 DEGREES 1973 68.5 DEGREES 1991 68.5 DEGREES 2012 <=== 7 68.3 DEGREES 1994 8 68.2 DEGREES 1949 9 68.1 DEGREES 2005 10 68.0 DEGREES 1952 68.0 DEGREES 2006 COLDEST 63.7 DEGREES 1954, 1962 & 1964 NORMAL 66.9 DEGREES 1981-2010 TEMPERATURE RECORDS BEGAN AT THE PORTLAND JETPORT IN NOVEMBER OF 1940. TEMPERATURES FOR THE YEAR RANGED FROM A LOW OF 4 BELOW ZERO ON JANUARY 16TH TO A HIGH OF 93 DEGREES ON JUNE 20TH. THERE WERE FOUR DAYS WITH HIGHS OF 90 OR WARMER AND JUST THREE DAYS WITH LOWS OF ZERO OR COLDER. ONE OF THE MAIN WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS FOR PORTLAND THIS PAST YEAR WAS THE IMPACT OF SUPERSTORM HURRICANE SANDY IN LATE OCTOBER. THE IMPACTS RANGED FROM HEAVY RAIN AND HIGH WINDS WITH DOWNED TREES AND POWER OUTAGES TO BEACH EROSION AND ROUGH SURF DURING HIGH TIDE ON THE 29TH AND 30TH. PORTLAND HAD A PEAK WIND GUST OF 63 MPH ON OCTOBER 29TH AT 5:13 PM. THIS IS NOT THE STRONGEST WIND EVER RECORDED IN THE FOREST CITY. PORTLAND RECORDED A GUST OF 78 MPH ON THE EVENING OF FEBRUARY 25, 2010 BEFORE A POWER OUTAGE ENDED THE CHANCE OF RECORDING HIGHER GUSTS FROM THAT EVENT. HERE IS A LIST OF THE HIGHEST WIND GUSTS RECORDED IN PORTLAND MAINE... RANK WIND GUST DATE REMARKS 1 78 MPH FEBRUARY 25, 2010 OCCURRED AT 1134 PM 2 76 MPH NOVEMBER 20, 1945 3 76 MPH MARCH 3, 1947 4 76 MPH SEPTEMBER 12, 1960 HURRICANE DONNA 5 72 MPH NOVEMBER 12, 1995 6 70 MPH SEPTEMBER 27, 1985 HURRICANE GLORIA 7 69 MPH AUGUST 31, 1954 HURRICANE CAROL 8 63 MPH OCTOBER 29, 2012 HURRICANE SANDY 9 61 MPH AUGUST 19, 1991 HURRICANE BOB 10 60 MPH SEPTEMBER 11, 1954 HURRICANE EDNA PORTLAND RECORDED ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION IN 2012. WITH 54.47 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION PORTLAND HAD ITS 17TH WETTEST YEAR IN THE PAST 142 YEARS. THIS WAS 7.22 INCHES ABOVE THE YEARLY NORMAL PRECIPITATION. THE WETTEST MONTH WAS JUNE WITH 8.63 INCHES OF RAIN WHICH WAS 4.84 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL AND THE 5TH WETTEST JUNE ON RECORD. DECEMBER WAS THE SECOND WETTEST MONTH IN 2012 WITH 8.30 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION. THIS WAS 4.28 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL AND RANKED 4TH ON THE LIST OF WETTEST DECEMBERS. THE VERY WET DECEMBER CAME ON THE HEELS OF ONE OF THE DRIEST NOVEMBERS ON RECORD. WITH JUST 1.02 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION, NOVEMBER 2012 WAS 3.91 INCHES BELOW NORMAL AND THE 7TH DRIEST ON RECORD. PRECIPITATION RECORDS IN PORTLAND BEGAN IN 1871. ONLY FOUR MONTHS HAD BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION IN 2012. THEY WERE FEBRUARY, MARCH, OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER. ALL OTHER MONTHS HAD ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION. OVER FIVE INCHES /5.31 INCHES/ OF RAIN FELL ON JUNE 2ND AND 3RD. THAT STORM PRODUCED THE MOST PRECIPITATION IN A 24 HOUR PERIOD IN 2012. OTHER NOTABLE 24 HOUR HEAVY PRECIPITATION EVENTS INCLUDED NEARLY FOUR INCHES /3.90 INCHES/ ON APRIL 22ND AND 23RD, THREE AND A HALF INCHES /3.52 INCHES/ ON DECEMBER 17TH AND 18TH AND EXACTLY TWO AND A HALF INCHES ON AUGUST 10TH. DESPITE BEING A WARM YEAR, 2012 HAD ABOVE NORMAL SNOWFALL. THE 62.9 INCHES WAS EXACTLY ONE INCH ABOVE NORMAL. SNOWFALL WAS MUCH BELOW NORMAL UNTIL TWO SNOWSTORMS HIT IN LATE DECEMBER. TWO FEET OF SNOW /24.8 INCHES/ FELL IN DECEMBER WHICH WAS NEARLY A FOOT /11.6 INCHES/ ABOVE NORMAL AND MADE DECEMBER THE SNOWIEST MONTH IN 2012. THE BIGGEST SNOWSTORM IN 2012 ACTUALLY OCCURRED ON MARCH 1ST WITH 13.0 INCHES OF SNOW. THE SECOND BIGGEST SNOWSTORM DROPPED 11.6 INCHES OF SNOW ON DECEMBER 27TH. THE THIRD BIGGEST SNOWSTORM WAS ON JANUARY 12TH WITH 8.0 INCHES OF SNOW. FEBRUARY HAD A LACK OF SNOW WITH JUST 2.3 INCHES OF SNOW. THIS WAS NEARLY TEN INCHES /9.8 INCHES/ BELOW NORMAL AND WAS THE 7TH LEAST SNOWIEST FEBRUARY IN 132 YEARS. ...RECORDS... HERE IS A LIST OF DAILY TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION RECORDS... FROM MIDNIGHT TO MIDNIGHT...SET OR TIED DURING THE YEAR 2012... DATE RECORD PREVIOUS RECORD AND YEAR JAN 24 44 - WARMEST AVERAGE TEMPERATURE 44 DEGREES IN 1953 /TIED/ FEB 6 48 - WARMEST HIGH TEMPERATURE 45 DEGREES IN 2005 MAR 1 13.0 - GREATEST SNOWFALL 9.3 INCHES IN 2005 MAR 8 60 - RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE 56 DEGREES IN 2010 MAR 8 48 - WARMEST AVERAGE TEMPERATURE 46 DEGREES IN 1995 MAR 9 55 - RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE 54 DEGREES IN 2000 MAR 13 42 - WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 37 DEGREES IN 1985 MAR 13 50 - WARMEST AVERAGE TEMPERATURE 50 DEGREES IN 1946 /TIED/ MAR 18 70 - RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE 68 DEGREES IN 2011 MAR 18 55 - WARMEST AVERAGE TEMPERATURE 54 DEGREES IN 2011 MAR 19 70 - RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE 56 DEGREES IN 1986 & 2010 MAR 19 42 - WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 40 DEGREES IN 1968 & 1991 MAR 19 56 - WARMEST AVERAGE TEMPERATURE 47 DEGREES IN 1986 MAR 20 37 - WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 37 DEGREES IN 1945 & 1975 /TIED/ MAR 21 79 - RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE 60 DEGREES IN 1946 MAR 21 46 - WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 38 DEGREES IN 1995 MAR 21 63 - WARMEST AVERAGE TEMPERATURE 46 DEGREES IN 1968, 1979 & 2003 MAR 22 82 - RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE 70 DEGREES IN 1948 MAR 22 48 - WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 37 DEGREES IN 1999 MAR 22 65 - WARMEST AVERAGE TEMPERATURE 53 DEGREES IN 1948 MAR 23 70 - RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE 66 DEGREES IN 1953 MAR 23 53 - WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 39 DEGREES IN 2010 MAR 23 62 - WARMEST AVERAGE TEMPERATURE 47 DEGREES IN 1953 MAR 24 42 - WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 40 DEGREES IN 1953 MAR 24 48 - WARMEST AVERAGE TEMPERATURE 48 DEGREES IN 1988 /TIED/ APR 16 50 - WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 45 DEGREES IN 1976 APR 16 62 - WARMEST AVERAGE TEMPERATURE 62 DEGREES IN 1976 /TIED/ APR 17 83 - RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE 80 DEGREES IN 2002 APR 17 49 - WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 49 DEGREES IN 2002 /TIED/ APR 17 66 - WARMEST AVERAGE TEMPERATURE 65 DEGREES IN 2002 APR 21 50 - WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 50 DEGREES IN 1957 /TIED/ APR 23 3.13 - GREATEST PRECIPITATION 1.53 INCHES IN 1921 APR 24 46 - WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 46 DEGREES IN 2008 /TIED/ MAY 15 52 - WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 52 DEGREES IN 1974 /TIED/ MAY 16 55 - WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 53 DEGREES IN 1974 MAY 23 59 - WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 57 DEGREES IN 1955 & 1977 MAY 26 62 - WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 61 DEGREES IN 1981 JUN 2 3.63 - GREATEST PRECIPITATION 2.65 INCHES IN 2001 JUN 2 3 - SMALLEST DAILY TEMP. RANGE 3 DEGREES IN 2001 /TIED/ JUN 3 2.37 - GREATEST PRECIPITATION 1.42 INCHES IN 2006 JUN 3 5 - SMALLEST DAILY TEMP. RANGE 5 DEGREES IN 1942 & 1980 /TIED/ JUN 4 54 - COLDEST HIGH TEMPERATURE 55 DEGREES IN 1975 JUN 20 93 - RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE 93 DEGREES IN 1941 & 1964 /TIED/ JUN 21 64 - WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 63 DEGREES IN 1972 JUN 30 65 - WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 65 DEGREES IN 1946, 1947 & 1999 /TIED/ OCT 4 57 - WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 56 DEGREES IN 2001 OCT 4 3 - SMALLEST DAILY TEMP. RANGE 4 DEGREES IN 1995 OCT 29 51 - WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 51 DEGREES IN 1953 /TIED/ OCT 30 58 - WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 51 DEGREES IN 1946 OCT 30 62 - WARMEST AVERAGE TEMPERATURE 58 DEGREES IN 1946, 1961 & 1994 NOV 8 2.2 - HIGHEST DAILY SNOWFALL 2.0 INCHES IN 1968 DEC 1 3 - SMALLEST DAILY TEMP. RANGE 4 DEGREES IN 1969 DEC 8 5 - SMALLEST DAILY TEMP. RANGE 6 DEGREES IN 1952 & 1971 DEC 16 4 - SMALLEST DAILY TEMP. RANGE 4 DEGREES IN 1948 & 1995 /TIED/ DEC 18 3.50 - GREATEST PRECIPITATION 1.75 INCHES IN 1888 DEC 19 36 - WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 36 DEGREES IN 1996 /TIED/ DEC 19 3 - SMALLEST DAILY TEMP. RANGE 4 DEGREES IN 1959 DEC 27 11.6 - GREATEST SNOWFALL 8.8 INCHES IN 1894 THERE WERE NO DAILY RECORDS SET OR TIED IN JULY, AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER OF 2012. MONTHLY RECORDS FOR PORTLAND SET OR TIED IN 2012... DATE RECORD PREVIOUS RECORD AND DATE MARCH 23RD 53 - WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE 45 DEGREES ON MARCH 31ST OF 1981, 1987 & 1998 MARCH 41.2 - WARMEST MONTHLY AVG TEMP 39.9 DEGREES IN 2010 MARCH 31.8 - WARMEST MONTHLY AVG LOW 31.4 DEGREES IN 2010 MAY 48.7 - WARMEST AVG MONTHLY LOW TEMP. 47.4 DEGREES IN 2011 OCTOBER 44.4 - WARMEST AVERAGE LOW TEMP. 44.4 DEGREES IN 2007 SEASONAL RECORDS FOR PORTLAND SET OR TIED IN 2012... NONE ANNUAL RECORDS FOR PORTLAND SET OR TIED IN 2012... DATE NEW RECORD OLD RECORD 2012 49.2 - WARMEST AVERAGE TEMPERATURE 49.2 DEGREES IN 2010 $$ SJC