Maine Climate Office News

The Climate Prediction Center’s temperature outlook for winter 2017–18 indicates that the Northeast is more likely to experience above-normal temperatures. This is primarily linked to long-term climate trends. During La Niña winters, northern New England and portions of New York can be snowier than usual, while the Mid-Atlantic tends to be less snowy. Read the […]

Curious about how Hurricane Irma is advancing? View the latest forecast from the University of Maine’s Climate Reanalyzer. The Climate Reanalyzer investigates climate and weather by utilizing and providing access to existing publicly-available datasets and models.

Summer in the Gulf of Maine is now longer and warmer than ever — as much as two months longer. New research by a team of scientists led by Andrew Thomas of the University of Maine School of Marine Sciences confirmed that surface water temperatures have increased over the last three decades, with the Gulf […]

Maine’s wet 2017 winter and spring eased the 2016 drought conditions, says Sean Birkel, University of Maine research assistant professor and Maine State Climatologist. Winter precipitation was 2.3 inches more than normal on a statewide average, he says, totaling 11.7 inches water equivalent. And spring precipitation was 2.5 inches above normal, totaling 12.3 inches water […]

What do a ceramic sculptor, lobsterman, and climate scientist have to talk about? Find out Friday, July 7 at 5:30 p.m. at St. Patrick’s Church in Newcastle. University of Maine marine scientist Bob Steneck will join Port Clyde lobsterman Gerry Cushman and artist Nancy Selvin to view images of artist Paula Winokur’s towering installations inspired […]

Read the latest update from the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment. Drought conditions in the Gulf of Maine region eased this spring, with precipitation above normal for many areas between March and June. Sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Maine remained warmer than normal in much of the Gulf’s western portions. […]

Early 2017 is continuing to set global heat records, according to independent monthly analyses of global temperatures at scientists by NOAA Centers for Environmental Information and NASA a monthly analysis of global temperatures by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York. Global surface temperatures are a key climate change indicator. […]

A key climate change indicator, the extent of arctic sea ice, was at a record low maximum extent for the third straight year. This year, arctic sea ice reached it’s yearly maximum on March 7 when it obtained 5.57 million square miles. After March 7 sea ice started to decline with the start of the melt […]

Predictions for a warmer than normal winter season proved true for the Gulf of Maine region, despite some extreme temperature fluctuations and several blizzards. Sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Maine remained above average, sustaining a trend evident since September 2015. The newly released Gulf of Maine Region Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook (PDF) summarizes some […]