tamarack

Got enough teeny "flakes" to almost cover the ground, but our daughter's flight PHL-PWM came right on schedule.

We had a 16" paste bomb which inverted the supporting bows of my Ranger's Tonneau cover. (We were out of state, came home 5 days later to find a 5'x6'x6" ice cube atop the cover.) Eustis at 1,300' reported 34.5" and we (Maine Public Lands) were finishing a multi-year harvest on the Redington Public Lot. That winter the work was all north of the AT with elev 2,400 to 2,900 - might've gotten 40" there. Last load passed thru the very narrow crossing of the AT (as permitted with stringent constraints) on 3/22 just as the snow got super heavy; no way normal plowing could've kept that 200' AT inner corridor clear, would've needed a BIG payloader.

The 93 forecast language included "Life-threatening conditions". Only other time I can recall was the morning of Jan 9, 1998 - day 2 of the ice storm here. A line of strong TS had formed in eastern NY and forecasters were faced with the possibility of 50 mph gusts on ice-loaded trees and infrastructure. Fortunately, the storms dissipated quickly. This thread's storm brought 18-20 hours of steady 1/2"/hr snow on 20G30 NE winds, for 9.5". Farmington co-op recorded 14". Two more storms by mid-month added 11" then storms of 22-23 (16") and 30-31 (19") brought the March total to 55.5". Only the 61.5" of Dec 1976 in Fort Kent had more in my experience. Depth at 9 PM on 3/31 here was 48"; even FK never had that much that late (close, 47" on 3/31/84).

May be okay if the melt time isn't accompanied by significant rain. I've not seen any major (3rd/4th order streams and main stem rivers) NNE watercourses get beyond minor flooding with snowmelt only. (Of course, much of the modest snow in March 2012 was gone before the 80s arrived.)

Had to fasten a stick to the top part of the stake that winter, as it's "only" 61 inches above ground. Last time we reached 40" was March 2019. Got to 36" in March 2023 but tallest since then was the very brief 28" during the January fluff bomb - was obvious that the 25:1 snow was going to settle big time. March average snowfall here is 17.1" but it's often feast or famine. Five times it brought 30"+, including 55.5" in 2001, but 9 times it ranged from 10.0" down to 0.1". 15 of our 48 storms of 10"+ came in March, and also 6 of the 19 events 15"+. Next highest is February (no surprise) with 11 and 5.

Yesterday's low-RH 46° settled/melted 2/3 of the overnight 2.8", leaving a solid 20" pack. We've twice had 48" depth in March, on 3/1/08 from the last siggy snowfall of that snowy winter, and 3/31/01 - had 19" dump on 30-31. In Fort Kent we reached 65" on 3/14/84 as 26.5" fell atop a 42" pack.

Gray squirrel is quite mild - ate a lot of them in my teens in NNJ, but my wife has less than zero interest. Never tried red squirrel. Haven't eaten bear, either, and won't kill a bear unless I've had some and liked it. Nice raw north breeze under thin clouds, GYX says 20% chance of snow tonight, 60% chance of muck tomorrow night. Bleccch!

To me, the faint smell is on the edge of being perfumy. When it's much stronger it reminds me of burnt rubber. My one experience of fresh in-your-face skunk (animal control officer friend got nailed, entered his home while I was visiting) it was like having a stick shoved up my nose - overwhelming. He walked thru the door and instantly the stench filled the room. Looks like another snowstorm stays south, though it looks like we get the FRDZ mess tomorrow night into Saturday. Daughter is flying into PWM tomorrow morning, hope all goes as scheduled.

Snowed 9 PM thru about 2:30 AM, nice fluffy 2.8" on 0.23" LE, 22" at the stake. Forecast had been 1-3. Bright sun already has cleaned most of the trees.

For me it's 20% data and 80% subjective. I don't mind the cold as much as do normal people, I like a sustained decent pack and dislike winter rain. Snowfall to date is within a fraction of an inch of the 27-year average YTD. It's been very dry (DJF 6.84", only 48% of avg and our lowest by 1.80") but the freaky ratios of Jan 25-27 turned 0.77" LE into nearly 20". The Feb blizzard, 0.2" - can't in them all. All this adds up to slightly above average, so far. March is generally either wonderful or woeful - not many in the middle.

Clouds finally coming in, preventing a possible 50+ diurnal range, as the morning low of -12 rose to 34-35 before noon. BML hit the 50s range, with 39/-14.

-12 of fake cold this morning, possibly the season's last subzero, 99% it's the last double-digit below.

Forecast up to 2-4 here. Hit -12 overnight, probably a 40+ diurnal range today. Currently pure blue skies.

Happy with 2", expect 1", then the thaw. GYX has 53 for here Sun/Mon. Would be the first 50+ since Nov 8 (51° and the month's only 50+).

Was actually in NB. Beautiful sun today, a breeze pushing the low 20s around. Low this morning was -16 and I heard the most tree pops of any day in years, likely due to the late season with sap running. The -23 morning in January had almost no pops.