tamarack

Started as RA about 3, gradually switched to light SN, no IP noted yet. Not sticking (temps still mid 30s) but were it full dark I think it might accumulate.

Pretty much a whiff in Fort Kent, though the day had a flake or 2. Can't whine too much after getting 26.5" on 3/14-15. Though the biggest snowfall I've measured anywhere, it was odd in that winds were light and our barometer was 30.4 as snow began and never dropped below 30" throughout.

1984?

Pack will drop below 10" today after 82 consecutive days in double digits. Average run is 74 days, median 77. Tuesday's snow is gone but 10" of 2:1 crust melts a lot more slowly. South facing slopes in hardwoods have bare patches, aspens just need a couple more days in the 50s to break bud and extend the male catkins. May be a week or more after today before another 50 shows up. I’ve never seen vegetation like this so early. We're 10-14 days behind 2010, which set the standard here for early spring awakening. Also 10-14 days ahead of last year's cold spring. Edit: WS watch posted for Maine mts, might get a sloppy 2" here tomorrow night.

Search showed 12 May ice outs in 129 years, only one (5/2/2001) since 1972. March 27 is 4th earliest, behind 2010,2012, 2016 - this last the earliest at 3/18.

A bit cooler to the north - GYX closer to+3 (same at my place) and thru 3/25 CAR was about +0.7. For the majors? I believe so. Most Coops though are 7a-7a. Farmington has been both at differing times in its long POR, recent years using 12:01-11:59. I'd look at obs time temp for minima "twins" and cross check nearby majors (or known midnight-obs sites) to see if those had one cold night or 2.

Checking the ice on Flying Pond while driving home today. Hope it's safe for one last day of hardwater fishing tomorrow. Had 17" ice 2 weeks ago, but open water at the edges may make entry/exit a problem even as most ice is plenty safe.

We'll probably be back to the pre-storm 10" by this evening, but that's near-glacier in composition with 5"+ LE. Melting the 0.83" from the early week event was easy.

We get serenaded every year by at least one coyote family - pups singing high-end soprano in May, descending to near the adults' alto by September. Last June they were close enough that we could hear their footsteps rustling the leaves. Looks like things could get interesting here Sunday-Monday. Steve said "fir flattener" but I hope not. Had one of those 19 years ago in late March - 16" paste that left Christmas trees scattered about the ground. Maybe a quarter of the fir - most abundant tree on our woodlot - had their tops snapped off.

We've got lots of coyotes plus a few foxes, several species of owl, broadwing and other hawks, two types of weasel and some bobcats and fisher. However, about 99% of the acreage around here is excellent small rodent habitat with lots of shelter areas, so I think the predators eat well but don't have much impact on overall prey numbers. A cold and (near) snowless winter might change that temporarily, but I'd rather not see one.

Thanks. Read the article and it didn't change my thinking that there is no silver bullet. I mentioned the tube method mainly because of its DIY potential; I've made no attempt to employ it at my place in the woods. The small rodent population is massive here. Also, I wonder if results would've been different in our area, where chipmunks are present but not abundant and red-backed voles are much the most abundant small rodent. We also have several mouse species.

Fine for deer but small rodents (mice/voles)may be even more important as vectors and the spray may not be able to de-tick them. I've read that one can put "traps" around one's yard - edge of woods preferable. Those traps are homemade, using cotton batting (or dryer lint, cheaper) with permethrin mixed in, then stuffed into cardboard tubes - TP centers work well, or paper towel cores cut in 2-3 pieces. Placed under a board so not ruined by rain, the material is eagerly collected by the tiny furbies as tick-killer nest material. Need to place them at about 10-ft intervals, and check weekly to see if they've been emptied. Interior folks hitting their season averages. Would need another 20"+, not impossible but very unlikely.

I've attracted ticks in mid-late November while deer hunting, though usually with no snow on the ground, and it was last Oct 30 at the midcoast when I briefly hosted 26 of the little horrors including 3 of the tiny nymphs discovered that evening. Fortunately I've yet to provide a good drink for one of them, unlike yours which looked pretty engorged.

Took away late week here but doubled qpf for tonight and a real oak-croaker next Monday.

Just read (on Daily Bulldog, online newsfeed out of Farmington) of yesterday's rescue at Tumbledown Mt of a woman with a broken ankle. Looking at that ice makes me wonder even more why they (had 2 kids with her) were there, and without crampons. Took a crew of about 20 (no way <10 gets it done) five hours to get her down safely, having to belay the sled and rope it down on five of the steeper stretches. Article has some great pics of the terrain involved.

Yesterday's max through my 9 PM obs time was a mere 40, with dz/fog and 36 at 9. Then the wind arrived and temp hopped up 8° in 2 hours. U20s this morning.

The 20 events I noted include 12/96, 4/97, 2/01 and 3/01. Of the 20, 9 have come this century and 4 more in the '90s. The ORH ratio, about 2 per 7 years, is essentially the same as Farmington (Maine),which has had 35 such events in 127 years. 13 of those came this century, with 9 in the "oughts."

The data I've gathered from UCC and Climod show BTV with 14 storms of 18"+ in 96 year POR (31 years missing early 20th) and ORH with 20 such events in 71 years, close to 2X the frequency of BTV though their respective biggest (ORH 34.5, BTV 35.3) are pretty much the same.

Looked at the local long term co-op and found a weak positive signal. --Compared to the 127-year JJA average, 11 of those 20 summers were AN and the overall average was +0.60 --Compared to the appropriate decade averages, also 11 were AN and 20-summer average was +0.49. Looking at only the 10 least snowy winters, against LT for JJA the departure was only +0.24 but against the decades it was +0.73. Still pretty weak.

37 with dz in Augusta - yay! Probably just clouds at home - no SN but no reduction of pack either (till tomorrow.)

The Rangeley area lakes show up bright and white, but not the Belgrade lakes, which also remain almost totally ice covered. Odd.

Was a bit surprised to find an inch new at home, similar to the most I saw on Mile Hill, 6 miles south but 400' higher. Most accumulation came 1-4 PM and max temp was 32, after the 31/5 on Monday.

2006 stunk, as we had only 7.8" after Jan 31 with 2.8" in March. However, the 1st half of 2005 was great, with 2 events just under a foot plus 5.5" on 11-12, though that last one had a 12-18" forecast 24 hours before it arrived, backed off to 8-12 and still busted, except for the west side of Sebago with the jack. As Dendrite noted, 2010 was even worse than 2006.

0.1 or 0.2 flakes here - not enough to wet the ground. Still in the running for least snowy DJF or M in my 47 years in Maine - 0.2" so far, record holder is 2010 with 0.6".

Folks who give weight to day 16 on ANY model have left the path of wisdom.