Maine hotter than Phoenix? For a day, at least

Panoramic skyline view of Phoenix downtown.

(Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group / Getty Images)

CARIBOU, Maine -- When you think of finding someplace warm to ward off the approaching winter, Arizona might be among the top choices, while Maine… might not enter the conversation.

But on Wednesday, heading to the upper right corner of the nation instead of the lower left would have found more of that fleeting warmth.

The high temperature in Caribou, Maine, reached a record 77 degrees on Wednesday. Meanwhile, down in Phoenix, the temperature only reached 75 degrees.

The results are in! Caribou 77° (new record for the day), Phoenix 75° #MEwx #AZwx https://t.co/nT1cd17hxP
— NWS Caribou (@NWSCaribou) October 14, 2021

The nation has been a tale of two seasons of late, with record warmth in the east and record cold in the west. Phoenix's average high for Oct. 13 is 90 degrees, while Caribou's average high is 55 degrees.

The 77 degrees reached by Cairbou tied for their 8th-warmest October high temperature since records began in 1939, and it's the warmest October day since it hit 79 degrees in 2017.

For Phoenix, the 75 degree high was only three degrees warmer than their all-time coolest high temperature registered on Oct. 13. In 1957, the high temperature was only 72 degrees.

Maine will remain on the mild side, though cooling off a bit this week, and the imbalance won't last much longer. Highs in Caribou are expected to drop in the 60s over the next five days -- still quite above average, but not record heat.