We have officially passed the dead of winter! Today, the normal average temperature in Portland goes up one degree from 22 to 23. The normal, which is based on the Portland climate from 1971-2000, has been flat since January 9th after having steadily declined since August 3rd. The purple line below shows the normal daily temperatures in Harpswell (which are slightly higher than Portland in winter and slightly lower in summer) compared to actual Harpswell highs, lows and 6-hour averages. We are now on the upswing toward summer that will continue until the peak normal temperature from July 17th until August 2nd. Of course, daily weather in Maine often varies significantly from the climatological averages so we probably won't notice that we are on the upswing right away but its nice to know that nature is now on our side pushing for warmer weather. Interestingly, the middle of the coldest period of winter is about a month after the shortest day, and the middle of warmest period of summer is about a month after the longest day.
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SOURCEWeather statistics are based on 5-minute readings at an Ambient Weather station near Mill Cove off of upper Harpswell Sound. Archives
December 2015
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