tamarack

Generator shut off at 3:10 after 5:45 running time. Found a few leaves, but no grandkids to jump into them. Dog has no interest at all.

A piece of the pumps canopy was torn off at Irving's Big Stop on Rt 2 in Farmington; looks like no one was underneath at the time. Road blockages and power outages common all over Franklin County. Our genny is into its 6th hour

Still no power here but not quite as windy - G35 instead of 40. CMP scoped out our short road about 11:15. The four lodged firs that were tipped on 12/18 remain secure; any one of them would easily reach our power lines if they came loose. Leaves are piled up and I'm counting on a bit less wind before I move them to their winter home (including some atop 2 rows of carrots for next April - dug the other 2, nice size and form).

Just a dusting here last 12/13 but we had 12.4" on 12-3-5. The 2.3" RA (some ZR at start) compacted snow to 4" then came 4.2" on 17-18, most falling at 50-55°. Was glad there was little on the ground going into the deluge, as it would've melted 20" and possibly turned the 2nd highest peak flows in the Kennebec drainage into new all-time records. Still no power here but not quite as windy - G35 instead of 40. CMP scoped out our short road about 11:15. The four lodged firs that were tipped on 12/18 remain secure; any one of them would easily reach our power lines if they came loose.

At the late lamented Farmington co-op (volunteer passed and no one picked up the torch), 32 out of 128 Octobers had measurable snow, some in each decade except the 1980s and the 2 years of the 2020s. Average snow in those winters was 1.2" AN but since the Oct snow averaged 2.6", the November-May average was 1.4" BN. Only 3 Octobers had 6"+ (1962, 1965, 2011) and those winters ran +6.6". Of course, those Octobers averaged 7.2". All that adds up to not much effect. Wind is howling, gusts to 40+ which is significant here in the woods. Went to generator power at 9:25. Trees around the yard are 90%+ bare and the leaves are nice and dry, perfect for raking. It may be dumb in this wind, but I'm going to try anyway as the Monday rain and unsettled week may not allow the leaves to re-dry.

Coburn Gore FTW? Or Kibby Ridge where the wind towers are lined up.

Peak is well passed in the Maine foothills. The Whites are a week or more earlier. Except for oaks and some holdouts, it's probably close to stick season there.

The wildlife biologist with whom I often traveled for 30 years once (when I wasn't there) encountered an out-of-state hunter sitting in a truck with engine running, parked on a northern Maine logging road. He stopped to ask if all was well. The answer was that it was his chum's turn to hunt - one would walk into the woods a few hundred yards and sit on a log and the other would wait a certain number of minutes (30 IIRC) then honk the horn so the first guy could find his way out and make the switch.

About 3,170 according to G.E. There's always Greylock, though, about 300' taller. (And in SNE, sort of)

And the cold gets stronger . . . First 32 of the season, almost 3 weeks later than average. More to come next week. Today's wind will pull down some more leaves, but the big drop came Saturday-Monday. We're at about 75% drop; ash is bare and white birch almost the same, maples and yellow birch at 30-90% drop, oaks dragging as usual, mostly still green.

Thanks for the recap - among many other things it confirmed that retention stunk. Our (usually) pack-retaining site had 111% of average snowfall but only 67% of SDDs. That's by far the lowest SDD percentage for a winter with AN snow and only the late-blooming 06-07 came relatively close. Touched 32 this morning, 1st of the season so we're on our way.

It's 44 years ago but still a clear memory of walking into a spot 1/2 mile from the road to sit where I'd taken a deer 2 years earlier, on a day with continuous light snow. After several hours I came back to see that 3 deer had walked past the truck, coming within 5 feet of it. (My intention of catching up to them failed as I was in an open road and was spotted before I saw them. That was my 5th deer season up north and the first one in which the deer all eluded me.

I've seen 27.9 in the Aleutians. For the lower 48, it might be the OV bomb of Jan. 1978. Lowest I've seen in Maine was 857 mb at CAR during the SE gale of Feb 2, 1976 (just before their temp plunged from 49 to -7 in 8-9 hours, with gusts 50+). At 11:15 last night our temp was 36 under bright stars and a frost/freeze seemed inevitable. Then clouds rolled in and brought a 60-second downpour (0.02") about 5 AM followed by fog, and the low was 34.

My younger brother's primary residence is near Cape Canaveral and the current center-of-cone has Milton passing 10-15 miles south of there as a strong Cat 1. That close to the center, even on the left side, won't be a pleasant place. One hopes they're at their 2nd home in northern Alabama.

In "Five Seasons", Roger Angell has a wonderful description of Tiant's windup. Luis was one of the few who would fully turn his back to the plate as part of the act. IMO, he belongs in the HOF. 66 WAR plus some post-season heroics ought to be enough. Only 20 MLB pitchers have tossed more shutouts - that's good company. He was on 31% of ballots his first year of eligibility and never again got more than 25%, a very odd sequence. usually, 30%+ in year #1 leads to enshrinement by about year 10. I was hoping that the Veterans' Committee would vote him in while he was still alive.

0.67" here, and sheet drizzle continued into the wee hours, keeping the temp well above freezing (low of 43) - maybe frost tomorrow morning if the clouds cooperate.

The Feb 1978 blizzard caused 99 deaths and destroyed or caused major damage to 1700 single-family houses. Peak gust was 92 mph at CHH. These numbers pale compared to Helene (and likely Milton as well) but are still significant, perhaps the highest since 3/1888.

Strongest at landfall is still the 892 of Labor Day 1935, though it trails Wilma and Gilbert for lowest mb overall.

Check out KevMA's snow table and see how poorly we do for snow. CAD is our winter friend here though upslope is essentially nil. Did you miss the post about blooms in Portland Maine? Looks like mid July there.. Portland also isn't representative of most of Maine. The "lawn warrior" 20 miles NW in Raymond gets 20%+ more snow than PWM and is significantly colder, especially in winter.

Absolutely. However, when it's -20 some January mornings, I haven't been able to convince the pickup's battery that the cold is fake. No fake cold here as the clouds slid in from the east overnight.

Four more days for things to change, but right now the cone is centered on Bradenton. Hope that the eastern Gulf is still a bit cooled from Helene's passage.

Might not hold for a 'cane coming in on a course perpendicular to the coastline.

0.24" by 7 AM with very light RA, and the morning low of 54 is 15° above the average (though we may be a bit lower by my 9 PM obs.) Yesterday topped out at 66 as the early fog (<1/8-mile vis) and clouds blocked the sun almost to noon.

Hope it's less than last time. We had 24.45" Dec-Mar despite only 0.95" in Feb. That 4-month period was about 5.5" more than any other DJFM here, back thru 98-99.

Only rain in Gardiner where we then were living. In 12 Octobers the only measurable events were 1.8" on 8-9, 1988 and 0.5" on 31, 1993. I do recall seeing 1987 tree damage in Dutchess County NY as we drove south for Thanksgiving with family.