tamarack

Pretty consistent forecast for our highs from GYX. SAT 53/34 SUN 50/34 MON 50/33 TUES 50/35 WED 50/36 THUR 50/37 FRI 50/37 Also 30% PoP going to 50% Tues-Fri. Some showers approaching, maybe with a handful of graupel, maybe it dries up before getting here.

When I worked in the northern tip of Maine, I would always be sitting on my snowshoes when riding - several times had to use them as shovels to unstick the machine - usually the nose-heavy '73 Everest. (Never had to use them to walk out from a paunched snowmobile - fortunately. Before my 1st ride there, an experienced co-worker noted that one could ride in one hour farther than one could walk out in a day.)

Sapling oaks are reddish brown while the 24" by 90 ft oak is yellow-brown, also fully turned and about 25% leaf drop. Other than the oaks, only the understory beech have significant leaves among the deciduous trees. They'll be the last to drop, some hanging on into spring. Thick frost this morning, 29-30°. Oct 24 average is 52/32 so today should finish near to that.

Don't really know - maybe they estivate during the warmest part of the year?

The late summer tick hiatus came to light in 2019 when Maine Public Lands annual 2-day "peer review" field trip was set in southern Maine, including Swan Island with its overpopulation of deer. Nearly 40 attended the mid-August excursion and not a single tick was reported. That 7/15-9/10 period has remained tick-free, and this year it was 6/20-9/20. May that period be extended.

Cat 3 in Casco Bay. (0.1% chance)

After seeing no ticks from late June thru mid September, the little horrors are back in force. Yesterday's woods walk included pushing through some dense sapling stands and I brought home (and dispatched) 10 deer ticks.

0.79", with about half coming from a 5-minute downpour in mid afternoon. Eight miles WNW, West Farmington cocorahs reported 1.42". They must've had 10-15 minutes in the RA++.

Should've written "6th season". Once the trees stop sucking water from the soil, the first multi-inch rain event usually shuts down timber harvesting almost completely. Only twice have I seen warm-season conditions progress into frozen ground without a mud time, 1976 and 2013. This year might be a contender if freeze-up comes early, given the drought. Bright sun today after 4 straight cloudy ones - that produced only 0.11" precip.

Mud season - mid-October until freeze-up, NNE's 5th season.

Maybe some graupel?

There are echoes overhead there, and it's at 47.3° lat. and 985' asl. Their average date for first flakes is probably about now. (Unfortunately, the airport apparently doesn't report snow.)

Our 20-foot-tall sapling is mostly changed. The 90-foot by 24" specimen is just beginning to turn.

Your B-Day in 2002 was memorable here, though with only a trace of snow on the ground. It was the first day of Maine's firearm deer season and at dawn it was 14° with gusts 30+. That would be ho-hum in January but was quite chilly in mid Autumn. (Punched my ticket with a nice critter the day after T-Day.)

Strongest gust, mid 50s, came in a June 2005 TS and toppled a half dozen popple trees. However, December 18, 2023 - four hours of 50+ gusts plus a storm total of 4.21" - was a far more destructive event, causing many times more tree damage on our woodlot. Floyd (Sept 1999) also had gusts approached 50. Greatest lifetime winds: 1-A: Nov. 25, 1950. the Great Appalachian Gale 1-B: Dec. 31, 1962, backside NW wind from the blizzard that ate BGR. Both events reached near 70 mph and caused major damage. 3: Aug. 19, 1991, "Bob" - 60+ gusts. 4: Aug. 28, 1971, "Doria" - near 60 5: April 7, 1982, East Coast April blizzard, also near 60