Did Maine See Its Coldest April Morning on Record?

Chris Dolce
Published: April 6,2015



 
The state of Maine may have recorded its coldest April temperature on record Monday morning.
An unofficial low temperature of minus 20 degrees was reported at Big Black River in northern Maine, according to the National Weather Service (NWS) in Caribou. The NWS says that the current official coldest low temperature ever recorded in Maine during April is a reading of minus 17 degrees at Ripogenus. If Monday morning's low of minus 20 degrees at Big Black River is verified as accurate, it would beat the old April state record by a full three degrees.
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It should also be noted that four other locations recorded unofficial lows colder than minus 17 degrees, including Clayton Lake (minus 19 degrees), Aroostook River at Masardis (minus 19 degrees), Nine-Mile Bridge (minus 18 degrees) and Oxbow (minus 18 degrees).
Big Black River recently set an all-time cold record for any month in Maine. On Jan. 16, 2009, the temperature fell to minus 50 degrees, beating the old state record of minus 48 degrees. In order for that record to be verified, it had to go through a comprehensive investigation by the State Climate Extremes Committee (SCEC).
Monday morning's unofficial observations will have to go through a similar investigation in order to be verified as a state record for April.
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What is not in question are some all-time April cold records for a couple of official individual reporting locations in northern Maine.
Presque Isle saw its low temperature fall to minus 13 degrees, which crushes the old April record in that city of minus 4 degrees set in 1893 at that location. Caribou also set an all-time record low for April by dipping to minus 4 degrees. Records in Caribou go back to 1939.

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