tamarack

Another morning at 21° but this one wasn't fake - air was stirring all night. Month is +1.8 thru yesterday and today's 8-10 BN will drop that to 1.4. Tomorrow's average is 57/33 and the fake cold will probably lead to a 60/23 day. We'll finish the month ~2 AN.

Five minutes of partly cloudy and then the CF roared in at 4:30 with gusts into the 30s. RA underperformed, bucket caught 0.03" plus a red maple blossom.

Wet 40s, quite the change from yesterday's sunny 60/21 - couldn't quite get the 40° range. On another topic, yesterday the arborists did a great job dropping the 20" diameter/80-foot-tall basswood that was leaning strongly toward the house. It had serious internal decay about 12 feet off the ground, such that the first good NW breeze after leaf-out might've been a disaster. Now it's a cord of not very good (but close to the stove) firewood. The head honcho took 5 feet of sound upper stem for a woodcarver friend.

Fort Kent would do that sort of thing occasionally. Jan 11, 1980 had 38/-21. Day before that was 10/-30 and day after 44/4. Most spectacular, however, was Groundhog Day in 1976. At 11 AM it was 46, pouring and screeching. By 8 PM it was -11 with a 50° drop, 44 to -6, between 1 and 6 PM. CAR had 49/-7 for the day (with 957 mb) and BGR 57/1 plus 200 flooded cars in Kenduskeag Plaza as strong southerlies (gust of 115 mph in Stonington) blew water up the Penobscot estuary, raising the water in BGR 15 feet in 15 minutes.

Had a 39° diurnal range on Eclipse Day (62/23). Forecast max is 59, which would be a 38° range so that 4/8 span is in play. Greatest range here was 52° (29/-23) in Feb 2002.

Low of 21 here, tying 4/1 for coldest of the month. Just as fake as forest-enhanced dewpoints.

Numerous NNE sites with RH <20%. At 4 PM, PSM was 55 with TD 7, RH 14%. Chilly up in the County - FVE 32, west wind 20G35. Rest of NNE is fairly close to 50. If it were a Saturday and 10-15° milder with the breeze and low RH, we'd be reading about brushfires. Might be having some in the NJ pine barrens even on Monday.

I hope it was Whiteface that got some improvement cash. Back in the stone age (early '70s) I read an article about Whiteface in Ski Magazine, presumably compiled by an expert skier. At the upper lift the attendant had to let a few chairs go by before seeing one fit for the writer to climb on. The Ski guy said that the trail (Skyward? It's been a long time) was obviously ungroomed and w/o any manmade snow, with numerous dark things sticking up thru the snow. After several stump/rock near misses in 100 yards, the writer swallowed his pride, sidestepped up to the top and rode down on the lift.

Some forsythia starting to bloom next door in Farmington, but ours are still asleep. Chilly in northern Maine - FVE 24 with WCI 9. Nice day to summit MWN: 5F, wind 53G65, WCI -25.

Not sure whether tomato plants can tell the difference.

Norway maple is native to Europe but is widely planted in urban settings, as it's relatively tolerant of conditions there. It's also brittle and subject to frost cracks in cold climates. It is very shade tolerant and an early-season seed producer, characteristics that give it an advantage over native species. Since silver maples and red maples here have swelled buds, it's no surprise about the Norways being early. The most recent month with BN temps here was November, so phenology is understandably early, which to me is suspect. Somehow my apple trees dodged the killing frost last May 18 but many NNE orchardists were less fortunate. We've had major damage from late frosts in 1999 and especially 2010; that one toasted all the ash and oak shoots and some on the maples, along with frying every apple blossom.

Partridge drumming nearby, using the horizontal fir left after Dec. 18.

I think it's still the greatest vertical in the east. When I saw it way back in 1971 (rode the lift* during our June honeymoon) it was state-owned and suffering from chronic underfunding. It was spiffed up for 1980 but I've no idea what condition it is now. *Only the Little Whiteface lift was running for sightseers, and it was the scariest one I've been on - no footrest, teeny (9") lap "bar", and the final span was the scariest of all: About 2,000 feet between tower and summit so the catenary seemed almost straight up as we approached the top. Also, no trail beneath that span, just a sidehill 40-60 feet down and covered with the criss-crossed spruce cut and left when the lift was built.

Looks seasonal - average temp here on 4/29 is 58/34.

Some SN mix in the forecast for NW Maine, Wednesday night and Thursday. No mention of accumulation and it's 5-6 days out. However, a few late April flakes there isn't really news.