tamarack

Made another 40° range with 75/35, down to 43 this morning. GYX advertising a BD arriving here early aft, otherwise we'd make a run at 80. Spring progress: Forsythia blooming, partridge drumming and COC bird on display in our garden (dog noisily interested) for his lady friend in our apple tree, wood frogs "quacking" in our small pond. We had the muck hoed out last fall, deepening the pond from 2' to 5', and I wondered how that would affect the amphib population. Evidently, little if any.

My preference is for smaller pickups. If/when my 2011 Ranger dies (152k at present) I hope to find a reasonably priced Maverick, preferably the hybrid. (Though that choice might be less "reasonable".)

Very calm and early ice out for the local river (Sandy R.). No matter the pack depth/density, I've yet to see a significant New England flood from snowmelt alone. In 1984 I needed an extension to my 61" snow stake and the SWE was ~16", with higher numbers in the Allagash/St. John uplands (80"/20" SWE). We thought that this would be the year the protection dike in Fort Kent would have its first big test, but the major snowmelt period - mid April into early May, had almost no precip. 24 years later the pack was big but much less than 1984, and a 3"+ RA event in late April brought the St. John to nearly 3 feet higher than the previous record in Fort Kent, with serious damage.

Early April set some amazing records in 2010 - CAR had 82° on 4/3. At that time, they had recorded only one day milder than 68 earlier than April 9, 73 on 3/30/1962, though 2012 added 3 more days of 70s. Their 2nd earliest 80+ is 4/21.

Low was 35 here and temp is now 72. 50-50 on getting another 40-plus range. (Monday was 62/21.)

If I graded only on temps, my grade would also be F, as DJFM here managed to eclipse the horrid 2015-16 for warmest in our 25 years here. However, snow total alone would rate a B/B- and the AN pack plus December bomb kick it up a notch or 3. And the irony of the AN snow/record warmth in the same winter isn't lost on me. Both the weirdness and the firewood savings add to my satisfaction.

4" here, 24" at SFM. Of course.

2009, which qualifies as 2008ish. Local co-op hit 90 on 4/28/2009. Ironically, their only other April 90 came on 4/28/1990. The SNE/MA hot blasts of Aprils 1976 and 2002 failed to reach Maine. Snow is down to patches after 117 straight days of 1"+. That's precisely on the average here for continuous cover.

New Sweden Maine reported 19.5 this morning and that's mostly farm country - likely a good deal more in the forested hills to the west.

No buildings damaged as of the "near 4,000" report, and most evacuated folks have been allowed to return. Firefighters must be doing a good job keeping the flames away from infrastructure, as that part of the pines has a lot more buildings/residences than farther south in Wharton State Forest.

2,500-acre blaze in south-central NJ (Manchester/Lakehurst), northerly edge of the pine country so the flames are crowning. Numerous evacuations.

We'll be down to 1" or just patches by sunset. Yesterday's 64 then 40s overnight took out much of the remnants. Time to dig the overwintered carrots.

When the pattern is basically how it was forecast but the pieces just don't come together for snow, one should grade the forecast, not the snow stake.

2-3° warmer today but less spectacular due to clouds and wind. Low was 30 so no 40° range. A less happy spring phenomenon - first tick tweezered off my shoulder this morning, deer tick of course - hardly ever seeing the larger dog tick in recent years. Snow down to 4", may be able to dig the overwintered carrots tomorrow. Like parsnips, they get a bit sweeter that way.

First 60s of the year, 62/21 so also 1st 40+ diurnal range.

Low 60s from the 21 this morning, first 40+ range of spring. Two consecutive cloudless days in April, very uncommon in NNE. Make it 3 tomorrow?

Clear skies and low dews make for huge diurnal ranges, especially in spring. March 20-22, 2012 in Farmington had highs of 80/82/83, their warmest March days in their 130-yr POR. Lows on those days were 32/35/36 and aren't among the mildest 40 minima.

Nippy (near 20°) for sunrise service, but the first one with zero clouds in about 10 years. The sun's edge appeared just after our pastor's closing prayer.

Why not? The Sox broke the "curse" under a total lunar eclipse.

You're right! I forgot it was leap year. March 1970 eclipse was ~93% in NNJ, like an early twilight. We barely paused at our carpentry site.

Last half dozen years have included 4 or 5 total lunar eclipses, none of which were visible here, thanks to clouds. Also, my Sundays are spoken for.

A degree cooler than here, where the wind never fully quit overnight. Maybe teens for sunrise service tomorrow. Tha Montreal damage seems disproportionally great for the accretion - maybe some wind with the TS? Of course, most of the breakage appeared to be Norway and silver maples, both noted for ice damage.

In its 153-year POR, Central Park hasn't had another April storm like it. 1875 and 1915 had storms with (slightly) greater snowfall, but those were paste bombs. In 1982 most snow fell at mid-to-low 20s. Maxed out at 45 yesterday, CF wind roaring thru trees this morning, still 12" at the stake, possibly upper teens for the sunrise service on Sunday. Extended has 60s-70 for mid-late next week, should get rid of the snow.

Southern New England. Other than the coast, NNE did well despite the lack of consistent cold. However, memory tends to recall the big snows more than the ugly winters, sometimes justifiable. From March 1956 thru Feb 1961 our NNJ home had 7 storms with 18-24", the final one (Feb 3-4, 1961) dumping at least 24 - gusts pas 50 made measuring a guess - on top of the 25-30" pack. Friend and I tried wading into the woods. I was 5'8" then, snow came above my navel and my boots were on packed snow not ground. 100 yards of that was more an enough to reveal our foolishness.

Did you get much west of Route 11 and into the Allagash-St. John country?