Saturday was hot and sticky sure enough, but it wasn’t a record breaker in Maine.

The high in Portland was 87 and 90 in Augusta, but only in Gray was the heat especially notable: The temperature there topped 90 for the first time since Sept. 11, 2013, and the high eventually reached 92.

Eric Sinsabaugh, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray, said the only record was in Concord, New Hampshire, where the high of 94 tied the record for warmth for the day. In Maine, towns and cities along the coast cooled down substantially when a sea breeze brought in cooler air off the Gulf of Maine. In Rockland, it dipped to 69 late in the afternoon as the breeze freshened.

The warm, sticky air brought a taste of summer, but it will be a brief one, Sinsabaugh said. A cold front is expected to move through the state Saturday night and winds will be offshore, meaning coastal areas won’t get out of the 50s and 60s on Sunday, although it should be in the 60s in the foothills and mountains.

That front will return as a warm front Monday, Sinsabaugh said, which will cause patchy fog in the morning, but showers and thunderstorms are expected to hold off until the afternoon, meaning Memorial Day parades should just beat the wet weather.

Sinsabaugh said temperatures along the coast Monday should top out in the mid-60s to low 70s and it will reach into the 70s in the interior. The rest of the week, he said, should be fairly quiet, cooler and drier, with highs in the 60s and 70s.


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