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May 2019 Discussion


Torch Tiger
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3 minutes ago, NorEastermass128 said:

If we could just get the sun to come out, most would be in the 60s to 70. I’m losing it here. Days and days of 49 and slate gray skies with occasional rain is killing me. 

Its been summer according to some.Mon and Tues look good, glad I am not stuck in an office posting how beautiful it is.

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2 hours ago, Modfan said:

Areas in the NE should start doing some prescribed burns to help clean up the dead wood and forest floor.  Has New England ever had a wildfire season?

Not often, and not much recently.  The Northern hardwood forest has been called "asbestos forest", though the softwoods are more vulnerable.  Since I've been in Maine (46 years) only one fire has covered more than 1,000 acres and that was a special case.  3,000 acres in Baxter Park had been flattened by wet snow plus wind in Nov. 1974.  Because of the park's "forever wild" dictum (plus some court action) only the road edges had salvage harvests, and in 1977 that well-seasoned brushpile was ignited, probably by lightning.  Firefighters were forbidden or highly discouraged from using heavy equipment to clear fire lines, so essentially the entire blowdown area burned.

Farther back, a 1965 fire downeast scorched over 10,000 acres and the series of fires in late Oct 1947 covered about 200,000 acres, causing 15 deaths and consuming some million-dollar mansions on Mt. Desert Island.   (If interested, search for "The Week Maine Burned.") 

As for the prescribed burns to clean up, unless there is a safety issue (or why salvage was allowed along the Baxter Park roads), that dead/down material is better left in place, for nutrient cycling and for plants/critters which use the stuff.

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19 minutes ago, tamarack said:

Not often, and not much recently.  The Northern hardwood forest has been called "asbestos forest", though the softwoods are more vulnerable.  Since I've been in Maine (46 years) only one fire has covered more than 1,000 acres and that was a special case.  3,000 acres in Baxter Park had been flattened by wet snow plus wind in Nov. 1974.  Because of the park's "forever wild" dictum (plus some court action) only the road edges had salvage harvests, and in 1977 that well-seasoned brushpile was ignited, probably by lightning.  Firefighters were forbidden or highly discouraged from using heavy equipment to clear fire lines, so essentially the entire blowdown area burned.

Farther back, a 1965 fire downeast scorched over 10,000 acres and the series of fires in late Oct 1947 covered about 200,000 acres, causing 15 deaths and consuming some million-dollar mansions on Mt. Desert Island.   (If interested, search for "The Week Maine Burned.") 

As for the prescribed burns to clean up, unless there is a safety issue (or why salvage was allowed along the Baxter Park roads), that dead/down material is better left in place, for nutrient cycling and for plants/critters which use the stuff.

That last paragraph brings up an interesting point. With the advent of large biomass burning power facilities, wood pellet stoves and other uses for lower quality wood and wood chips, there is often a lot less material left behind on logging operations. Wood chippers are brought in to to harvest much of the stuff that used to be left behind. What type of impact, if any, has this practice had on forest regeneration and wildlife habitat?  The legislature here in Vermont had the state Forests and Parks department conduct a study a few years ago but I haven’t seen any report on findings yet. Have you noticed any impact in Maine?

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Non existent WAR? It’s been there all spring . Look at the high heights now lol. It’s why we haven’t been cold or BN despite the - NAO. This summer the war pushes more w than last summer on all guidance and LR forecasts I’ve seen. So much so that the storms stay nw west of SNE overall and we in a Bermuda blue 70+ pattern JJA

ieztTUS.png

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59 minutes ago, Damage In Tolland said:

Non existent WAR? It’s been there all spring . Look at the high heights now lol. It’s why we haven’t been cold or BN despite the - NAO. This summer the war pushes more w than last summer on all guidance and LR forecasts I’ve seen. So much so that the storms stay nw west of SNE overall and we in a Bermuda blue 70+ pattern JJA

I'd argue clouds and precip and overnight mins are why it "hasn't been cold"... I'm not sure the heights at 500mb have much to do with it.  

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17 minutes ago, powderfreak said:

I'd argue clouds and precip and overnight mins are why it "hasn't been cold"... I'm not sure the heights at 500mb have much to do with it.  

It’s not a cold pattern or air mass. When the sun comes out it’s AN. That tells you all you need to know. There’s been one morning in the last month where a few towns had frost and none in sight. It’s just clouds . If it was sunny we’d have 70-80 everyday 

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5 minutes ago, Damage In Tolland said:

It’s not a cold pattern or air mass. When the sun comes out it’s AN. That tells you all you need to know. There’s been one morning in the last month where a few towns had frost and none in sight. It’s just clouds . If it was sunny we’d have 70-80 everyday 

If only clouds and rain had no influence on sensible temps.

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33 minutes ago, dendrite said:

If only clouds and rain had no influence on sensible temps.

I mean, he's not wrong that it gets warmer when the sun comes out... I'm sure even the indigenous people around the world figured that one out. This is like the classic time for a "We don't live at H5" response. 

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2 minutes ago, powderfreak said:

I mean, he's not wrong that it gets warmer when the sun comes out... I'm sure even the indigenous people around the world figured that one out. This is like the classic time for a "We don't live at H5" response. 

The point you missed I guess is it can be sunny and cool this time of year with BN temps and cold nights. This doesn’t York’s that. The clear days and nights have been AN overall. With the ever present SE ridge .  

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3 hours ago, Damage In Tolland said:

Non existent WAR? It’s been there all spring . Look at the high heights now lol. It’s why we haven’t been cold or BN despite the - NAO. This summer the war pushes more w than last summer on all guidance and LR forecasts I’ve seen. So much so that the storms stay nw west of SNE overall and we in a Bermuda blue 70+ pattern JJA

ieztTUS.png

Cat 1 Michael? Lol

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