CARIBOU – Although the weather was bright in Aroostook County earlier this week, The County and other parts of the state have seen higher-than-normal amounts of rainfall this season.

Todd Lericos, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Caribou, said Tuesday afternoon that in the last 30 days, northern and western Maine have received unusually high amounts of rainfall.

According to the NWS, New England has been in a wet pattern for much of May and June due to a highly amplified, persistent upper-level weather pattern that set up over the nation during this period. The pattern created an upper-level trough over the Northeast that has provided cool, wet conditions.

Lericos said some portions of the western and northern parts of the state have received around 5 to 15 inches of rainfall over the past 30 days.

In Caribou, for instance, 5.87 inches of rain fell during the month of June – that is 2.56 inches above normal. At this time last year, Caribou had received just 2.44 inches of rain.

Fort Kent and other parts of the St. John Valley, which were heavily damaged by recent flooding, received between 5 and 8 inches of rain during the month of June.

Lericos said that some weather spotters in the Allagash Wilderness Waterway have reported high rivers that have been muddied by runoff, but water levels have dropped in the past few days.

A record rainfall of 1.41 inches was set in Caribou as a result of a June 29 storm. That broke the old record of 0.70 inch set in 2006.

In Houlton, a June 29 storm dropped 1.33 inches of rain on the town in a 24-hour period.

Down East and coastal parts of the state saw lesser amounts of rain last month – between 1 and 3 inches, according to the NWS. Bar Harbor, for instance, received just 0.11 inch from the June 29 storm, while Danforth received 0.60 inch and Eastport received just 0.14 inch.

Bangor, in comparison, has been slightly drier than normal, with 3.38 inches of precipitation falling in June, slightly below the average of 3.41 inches.

According to statistics provided by the NWS office in Gray in western Maine, the most precipitation fell in Eustis, where 10.48 inches of rainfall was recorded in June. The normal is 4.05 inches.

Rockwood received 9.10 inches of rain, well above the normal amount of 4.12 inches, according to forecasters. Rangeley received 8.56 inches of precipitation last month, which is more than 4 inches above the normal amount.

Portland also saw slightly more participation last month than usual. In June, the city recorded 3.88 inches of rain, slightly above the normal amount of 3.28 inches.

A cold front that is expected to move into the area Friday will bring another batch of rain, according to Lericos, although the precipitation is not expected to be heavy.

No instances of flooding have been reported, he added.

jlbdn@ainop.com

532-9257