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Tuesday's So Balmy it's Bewildering

April 29, 2009 - SANFORD — Steve Bourassa and Jennifer Sanborn headed to Sanford when they heard that summer was scheduled to pay an early visit to Maine on Tuesday.

By late morning, the North Berwick couple had parked their matching Yamaha motorcycles at the Mousam Way Park Pavilion and sat back to enjoy the balmy weather.

"This is about perfect," said Bourassa.

Mainers everywhere took to the road Tuesday, inspired by temperatures that soared into the 90s in some areas. In Sanford, one of the hottest spots in the state, the recent weather has triggered a burst of blooms, encouraged grass to shoot up several more inches and created a sudden outbreak of bare arms and legs.

By 3 p.m., temperatures were peaking at more than 30 degrees warmer than normal for this time of year. High temperatures reached 95 degrees in Fryeburg, 94 in Sanford and Kittery, 89 in Bangor, 85 in Gray and 78 in Brunswick. In Portland, a high of 92 was recorded at the jetport, torching the previous record for the date of 81, set in 1990.

James Brown, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Gray, said it was the first time Portland-area temperatures have topped 90 degrees in April since at least 1941, when the jetport began keeping records. Last year, Portland didn't have a single day in the 90s.

The blast of warmth came from a high-pressure system to the southeast, the same system that caused the toasty weather over the weekend. A cold front was expected to move into the region overnight, bringing a return to seasonable temperatures. Temperatures should be in the 50s and 60s today and Thursday, said Jim Hayes, another meteorologist in Gray.

Hayes said there is no way to say what this year's unusually moderate spring portends for summer. He said the weather service can only look six or seven days ahead with any certainty. Showers are expected to return on Friday and Saturday, when temperatures will stay in the mid- to low-60s during the day and the 30s and 40s at night.

Many Mainers wasted no time getting into the summer mode Tuesday. In Sanford, a steady parade of motorcycles and convertibles cruised the streets, and sidewalks were clogged by the stroller patrol and skateboard brigade.

Ron Jackson sat on the edge of Number One Pond in Sanford soaking his feet, while Lady, his black Labrador retriever, waded shoulder deep.

"This is the first day I have tried this," said Jackson, who walks the trails around the pond.

In Rockland, temperatures never rose above the mid-70s, because of offshore wind from a chilly ocean that's only about 40 degrees.

Ten miles east of Sanford, the parking lots were full along Atlantic Avenue at Wells Beach, as visitors in bathing suits headed for the sand. A few hardy beachgoers romped in the surf.

John Alling of Sanford was among those cooling off, making the trip on his Harley-Davidson.

"I just had to get out of the house; it was steaming," said Alling, who was on his first beach trip of the season.

Bonnie Rairdon and her daughters and grandchild escaped the warm weather by fleeing Rochester, N.H.

"We do this any chance we get," she said.

By BETH QUIMBY, Staff Writer, Portland Press Herald, April 29, 2009


Lakes:
Regions: Sebago, Sanford


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