Cranberry Weather Summaries Archive

February was extremely cold and cloudy, with above normal precipitation. The temperatures averaged 19.6 degrees, 11.3 degrees below normal. This was the second coldest February in the 89 years of record keeping in East Wareham, surpassed only by February 1934 with an average temperature of 17.0 degrees. The maximum temperature was 39.0 degrees on the 22nd and a minimum temperature of -13.0 degrees was recorded on the 21st. Daytime high temperatures averaged 30.3 degrees, 9.2 degrees below the norm. Evening temperatures averaged 8.8 degrees, 13.5 degrees below the norm. The monthly average was 8.7 degrees colder than February 2014. All night time low temperatures were below 32 degrees; 1 night was 31 degrees, 4 nights in the 20's, 9 nights in the teens, 8 night in the single digits and 6 nights with minus zero temperatures.

Sunshine totaled 43% of the possible sunshine hours; 7 points below the norm and 11 points lower than February 2014. 8 days had 90% or better sunshine while 8 days had no sunshine data recorded at all. The sunshine hours are recorded at the Blue Hill Observatory in Milton, MA.

Precipitation totaled 3.43 inches, 0.24 inches below the norm. We had measurable precipitation on 13 days of which 9 were 0.10 inches or greater. The largest 24-hour rainfall was 0.85 inches on the 22nd. There were 13 days with measurable snowfall totaling 40.3 inches, 31.6 inches above normal. This is a sets a new record for the highest monthly snowfall total for February, surpassing the past record of 31.0 inches in 1994. This is also the third years in a row with more than 22 inches of snowfall in February. The greatest snowfall for one storm came on the 14th and 15th with 15.0 inches during near blizzard conditions and strong winds. Year-to-date snowfall recorded in East Wareham is now 64.60 inches, 18.60 inches more than this time in 2014; the 2014-2015 season to date is 65.70 inches, 38.10 inches above the seasonal average. Snowfall records go back to 1952 in East Wareham. Also we can note that we have had 33 consecutive days with 10 plus inches of snow cover.

Official Winter Season

The official winter in East Wareham (Dec. 2014 - Feb. 2015) was cold, wet and snowy, with below average sunshine, much like the 2013-2014 winter season. The season temperatures averaged 28.7 degrees, 2.6 degrees below normal and 1.2 degrees cooler than 2014. The low mark was -13.0 degrees on Feb. 21st and the high mark was 67.0 degrees on Dec. 1st. The coldest daily high was 19.0 degrees on Jan. 6th and Feb. 20th. The total sunshine hours were 41%, 6 points below normal. Both December and February had well below average sunshine while January's sunshine was a little above the average. Precipitation totaled 13.50 inches, 1.22 inches above average. Snowfall totaled 64.60 inches, 37.0 inches above normal. December 2014 turned out to be much like December 2013, being the warmest month, with the highest rainfall, lowest snowfall and with very low sunshine. January had highest sunshine hours, February had the coldest temperatures, least rainfall and the highest snowfall for the winter season.

December was very warm, cloudy and wet. The temperature averaged 39.3 degrees, 5.1 degrees per day above normal. Maximum temperature was 67.0 degrees on the 1st; a minimum temperature of 15.0 degrees was recorded on the 30th & 31st. Daytime high temperatures averaged 46.0 degrees, 2.9 degrees above the norm. Evening temperatures averaged 32.6 degrees, 7.2 degrees above the norm. This was our 4th warmest December in the 88 years of our record keeping. Three of the four warmest Decembers have occurred in the past 13 years.

Precipitation totaled 5.97 inches, 1.54 inches above normal and 1.48 inches more than December 2013. We had 17 rain events spread out evenly during the month. Measurable rain of 0.10 inches or more was recorded on 8 days. The largest 24-hour rainfall was 2.15 inches on the 9th. Total rainfall for 2014 was 56.98 inches, 6.66 inches above average for East Wareham and 8.64 inches more than the total rainfall for 2013. There were zero days with measurable snow this month. Normal snowfall for the month of December in East Wareham is 6.9 inches.

Sunshine for the month was very low, totaling 35% of possible, 11 points below the norm. There were only four days with 90% or greater sunshine hours and 12 days with no sunshine at all.

October was very warm and extremely wet, with well below average sunshine. The temperature averaged 56.4 degrees, 3.9 degrees per day above normal. This is 2.7 degrees warmer per day than October 2013. Maximum temperature was 77.9 degrees on the 15th; a minimum temperature of 35.0 degrees was recorded on the 20th. Daytime high temperatures averaged 64.1 degrees, 2.2 degrees above the norm. Evening low temperatures averaged 48.6 degrees, 5.7 degrees above the norm. Daytime average high temperatures were within a couple of tenths from each other for the past 3 years. The evening average low temperatures however, were 5.5 degrees warmer than in 2013.

Sunshine totaled 44% of the possible sunshine hours, 11 points below the norm and 13 points below 2013. We had 5 days that were mostly clear (90% of possible) and surprisingly 9 days with no sunshine. There were no days with fog in East Wareham this month. Year-to-date sunshine is running above the norm.

Precipitation totaled 7.94 inches, 3.73 inches above the 30-year average. This is the 5th wettest October in the records since 1926, and just the opposite of October 2013. Measurable rain was recorded on 14 days, 9 days of which measured rainfall was 0.10 inches or greater. Year-to-date rainfall for 2014 is 43.87 inches; 2.68 inches above average for East Wareham and 4.30 inches more than 2013 for this time of year. The largest 24-hour rainfall was 3.26 inches on the 23rd and 24th. We have had 6 months with above average rainfall and 4 months with below average rainfall this year. There were two thunderstorms this month and no reported snowfall. 

August had well below average temperatures and rainfall, with well above average sunshine. The temperature averaged 68.7 degrees, 1.2 degrees per day below normal and 0.9 degrees cooler than 2013 and 4.4 degrees cooler than 2012. This is the lowest monthly average temperature in August since 1987 (27 years). Maximum temperature was only 82.4 degrees on the 25th and 26st, a minimum temperature of 50.9 degrees was recorded on the 19th and 30th. Daytime high temperatures averaged 77.5 degrees, 1.3 degrees below the norm. Evening temperatures averaged 59.7 degrees, 2.0 degrees below the norm. There were 16 nights with temperatures in the 50's and 15 nights with a low in the 60's. 

Sunshine totaled 70% of the possible sunshine hours, which is 12 points above the norm. We had 18 clear days, 8 partly cloudy days, and 5 cloudy days. We had 4 days with heavy morning fog in East Wareham.

Precipitation totaled 2.64 inches, 1.30 inches below normal. We had measurable precipitation on 10 days, and of those 10 days, 5 days had measurable rainfall of 0.10 inches or more. All 5 days of 0.10 or greater rainfall, totaling 2.56 inches, came in the first 2 weeks of the month. We also had hail reported in East Wareham on the 6th. During the last 18 days of the month, we only received 0.08 inches of rain. The largest 24-hour rainfall was 1.09 inches on the 2nd. Year-to-date, 2014 has received 34.40 inches of rain, 1.91 inches above the yearly average for East Wareham and 1.61 inches less than last year at this time. There was only 1 thunderstorm noted during the month of August in East Wareham.

Official Summer Season

The official summer (June, July and August) was cool, wet and sunny. The average temperature was 68.7 degrees, 0.3 degrees below the 30-year average. Total rainfall for the season was 13.71 inches, 2.75 inches above the normal precipitation for this time of year; note that almost half of this rainfall came during Hurricane Arthur, on July 4th and 5th. Sunshine hours totaled 897.47 hours; this is 154.47 hours above the average. All three summer months had well above average sunshine. The summer season was not as warm as 2013 yet there was much more sunshine. We had a maximum temperature of 87.0 degrees recorded on June 18th and a minimum temperature of 46.0 degrees recorded on June 1st. The last 90-degree day was in July of 2013. Rainfall totaled 13.71 inches, 1.02 inches less than the 2013 summer season. We had no official heat wave this season; in fact there were 0 days this summer in the 90's.

2014 Crop Forecast

New England Agricultural Statistics Service released the United States forecast for the 2014 Cranberry crop. Overall production is predicted to be down 4% in 2014. Although Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington are all predicted to have larger crops this year compared to 2013, Wisconsin is expected to be down by 63,000 barrels, due to berry size and weather conditions, lowering the overall United States percentage.

June was warm and dry with average sunshine. The temperature averaged 65.9 degrees, 0.6 degrees above average and 1.5 degrees below 2013. Maximum temperature was 86.9 degrees on the 18th; a minimum temperature of 46.0 degrees was recorded on the 1st. Daytime high temperatures averaged 75.8 degrees, 1.8 degrees above the norm. Evening temperatures averaged 56.1 degrees, 0.6 degrees above the norm.

Sunshine totaled was 67% of the possible sunshine hours. This is well above average for June sunshine and 12% greater than June 2013.

Precipitation totaled 2.15 inches, which is 1.56 inches below normal. June 2014 rainfall was 7.62 inches less then that of June 2013. We had measurable precipitation on 9 days, with 5 of those days having measurable precipitation greater than 0.10 inches. The largest 24-hour rainfall was 0.75 inches on the 14th. We only received 0.08 inches of rain in the last half of the month. Year-to-date rainfall for 2014 now stands at 22.845 inches, 2.40 inches below average and 8.21 inches below the total rainfall at this time in 2013. There was only 1 thunderstorm and 3 days with fog.

The first half of 2014 has been cool and dry. Temperatures have averaged out to be 0.6 degrees below normal for the year. Rainfall has averaged 2.40 inches below normal. Despite the low rainfall, we did receive 51.50 inches of snow, 23.30 inches above the average for the first six months of 2014. Sunshine has also been well above average. Four out of six months had above average sunshine hours.