How sunny is Maine? Is it the same as UK? (Portland: high crime, earthquakes)

[VeryBrownBear]

Hi Mainers J

Is Portland area has many sunny days or it has the same grayand gummy weather like United Kingdom? I am asking because it called NewEngland and England definitely has not many sunny days (especially in the north).

How changeable the weather in Maine? For example, in Englandweather could change every 2 hours. It can be rain in the morning, sun at thelunch time and strong wind at the afternoon. Is it the same in Maine?

Thank you very much...

[Mark S.]

I've never been to the UK, but from what I know about it from friends who have lived there ... no, Maine is not nearly as gloomy as the UK on average. Maine weather is much more extreme than the UK.

We have 4 distinct seasons. Summers are warm to hot, and humidity is high, especially from about mid-July to late August. It rains enough that we rarely have to water the garden. Autumn is glorious. Warm days and cool nights, turning to actual cold by late October to early November. Winter (at least in Maine) is very cold, with lots of snow. Spring is probably the shortest season, when all the snow melts and the bugs come out.

But that's an average. Some years vary. Four years ago, it rained ALL summer long. Our tomatoes rotted in the ground. Our first winter in Maine, we got the first appreciable snow the last week of November and we got major snowstorm after major snowstorm after major snowstorm until February. The drifts from the plows were nearly 20 ft high in places. But last winter, we only had 4 or 5 good snowstorms. Locals tell me there have been years where they didn't get a good snow till mid-January.

There are big differences in overall climate. The UK is much farther north than Maine, so the UK has more hours of darkness in winter and more hours of light in summer. But we're also on opposite ends of the Gulf Stream, which moderates UK weather and causes extremes in New England.

If you're looking for a climate comparable to England, try the Pacific Northwest. It's like a big UK with mountains, earthquakes, crippling traffic, high crime, and yuppies trying to get their coffee order straight.

[VeryBrownBear]

Mark, thanks for your reply. No, I want to avoid anything similar to UK. I don't like gloomy weather.
Maine sounds as a much better place.

[Mark S.]

By the way: The reason it was coined "New England" wasn't because of climactic or geographic similarities. It was because most of the dominant settlers of the region were English back in the 1600s. The French influx came later, especially in Maine. In fact, in northern Maine, lots of folks grew up speaking French as their primary language. Even today, you can go up to Fort Kent, drop in for a coffee, and nearly everyone in the shop will be speaking French.

As for sudden changes in the weather, it certainly happens, but I wouldn't call it common. It's certainly more common along the coast. Spring time probably has the most variance. Four years ago, we still had snow on the ground in February, but by mid-March, we had 3 straight days of intense summer heat, then it cooled off again. That's certainly not typical, but it can happen.