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Summer in Maine a Season for Weather Contrarians

September 01, 2009 - Cool when it should have been hot.

Wet when it should have been dry.

That pretty much sums it up for the summer.

Robert Marine with the National Weather Service in Gray, said spring was about average for precipitation and temperature, and May actually was slightly warmer than average.

It's the summer season that bombed out this year: He said June was about 1.9 degrees below average and July was 2.5 degrees lower.

"That was the big one," Marine said Monday about July's temperatures. "August was a pretty warm month, but June and July were cool."

At the Augusta State Airport, 6.96 inches of rain fell in June, compared to 3.16 inches in 2008. The record -- 10.32 inches -- was set in 1998. The service considers 3.58 inches normal.

In July, it rained 6.30 inches, compared to 4.32 inches in 2008. The record of 8.64 inches was set in 1996 and the service considers 3.32 inches normal.

In August, it rained 3.65 inches, compared to 3.36 inches in 2008. The record of 9.08 inches was set in 1991 and the service considers 3.25 inches normal.

According to Accuweather.com, it rained seven of the first 13 days of August.

Already affected by the high cost of fuel and fertilizer, farmers' crops were hit with one of the wettest summers in recent memory.

It's also been a tough summer for tourism. Vaughn Stinson, CEO of the Maine Tourism Association, said state tourism is down about 15 percent from last year because of the weather.

But a wet summer isn't all bad. It boosted Maine's wild blueberry crop and has been great for green moss and lichens.

The flea population is booming and so are spiders.

Daniel Jennings, a retired U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service Insect ecologist, said mosquitos thrive in damp weather and that means larger spiders that can produce more offspring.

One of the few benefits of a cool, wet summer is low levels of ozone pollution. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection, which monitors ozone concentrations at 17 locations across the state, said ozone levels have reached the "unhealthful" level only once so far -- May 21.

Ozone can aggravate respiratory and heart problems, especially in young children and the elderly.

The upcoming weather, Marine said, is looking good right through Labor Day.

"At the moment, it looks like, if everything works out right, that it will be OK," he said. "It could end up a pretty good weekend with temps in the low to mid-70s and lows, upper 40s to 50s. We only go out seven days. Anything beyond that it's really hard to tell what the whole fall is going to be like. We have general outlooks, but they don't tell you much."

BY MECHELE COOPER
Staff Writer Kennebec Journal 09/01/2009


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