tamarack

Since I retired, I'm not as up to date as I used to be. There's a 1,000-acre public lot on Rangeley Plantation that's on both sides of Rt 17 for the 1.5 miles immediately north of the town line with Letter D - the overlook is on D-Town. If the logging is quite visible from the highway, I doubt it's on the public lot as we would manage to avoid that - not invisible but not obvious to most passersby. The rest of the forest there is private, used to be Boise and predecessors/successors so maybe it's Nine Dragons' now. 47 with drizzle at 7 AM with a raw breeze as we approach the solstice. MWN in the fog at 27, WCI 6.

My interest would be in the Maverick pickup, the hybrid model, though only from afar as long as my 2011 Ranger is still alive.

Ever been up Oquossoc (Rangeley) Bald? Maximum view for (relatively) minimal pain, trailhead about a mile south of your lunch spot.

Did you return thru Wilson's Mills and Oquossoc on Rt 16? Beautiful drive and good for moose spotting. Upper 50s here and breezy, though the daily max was set at 62 last evening. Had some sun in the AM but socked in now, waiting for the showers to slide east into our area, probably just enough to keep everything wet.

Nice day on the rockpile. Conditions at 11: MT WASHINGTON FRZ DRZL 30 30 100 NW69 VSB 0 WCI 9

Looks like our Monday, as the 2nd TS of that afternoon dumped 0.91", about 0.85" in 10 minutes (the hourly rate is awesome) with gusts well into the 40s. Several close strikes, one within 1/4 mile, coming a few minutes before any rain. Had a smattering of chunks, too, up to 1/2" by 3/4". Any ice in your cloudburst? Only 0.04" from this line, with tall cauliflowers in sight both north and south.

Never saw the sun here, currently light RA with some distant thunder. The more colorful echoes seem to be doing the 7-10 thing for Rt 2 points east of RUM, though the cell to our south will be close.

I'd nominate the 1987 event on the Kennebec system because those peak flows were so much greater than any others for that river's drainage. Years 1987 cfs 2nd place (year) Kennebec at North Sidney: 41 232,000 113,000 (1984) Relatively short POR. The 1936 peak on the Kennebec was likely between 150,000 and 180,000 cfs Sandy at Mercer: 89 51,100 38,600 (1936) Carabasset at North Anson 94 50,700 31,600 (2011, Irene) 30,800 in 1936 2nd place is the St. John in 2008 St. John at Fort Kent: 93 183,000 151,000 (1979) For New England as a whole, March 1936 was probably the most widespread flood, and is the top peak flow for many drainages.

Are you saying h's a flake?

Morning AFD from GYX mentioned the S word for higher elevations.

Widespread floods in NNE, especially Maine, are usually rain/snowmelt events. 4/1/1987 (west/central Maine) and 5/1/2008 (Aroostook) are good examples.

This brought back memories. 66-67 was a great winter for NNJ despite an awful January, as Dec, Feb and March each had a bit over 30". The surprise 3" of moist fluff on April 27 pushed the total over 100", second only to 60-61 in my NJ experience. Future (I'd be hired Nov 67) co-workers went trout fishing in northern PA (Towanda area) the weekend of May 6-7 and spent much of it hiding from the 2" accum of mainly wind-blown IP. The late month storm was mostly on 5/25 in NNJ. I was working at Curtis-Wright's employees' lake resort, and that day was miserable, spitting light rain and mid 40s, with winds that toppled some large oaks

Maine state employees pay in 7.25% and the state 4.7% - used to be the same 7.25 until the previous administration reduced it, hoping to keep the retirement system solvent. Of course, neither they nor employees pay anything into Social Security, so that 4.7 is the total state obligation.

Yesterday's 76/56 was 6.4° AN, largest positive departure this month, and it dropped the mtd BN to -0.3°. Diurnal range is running right about average so far.

We reached 90 on May 14, only the 2nd 90+ in May, 91 on 5/18/17 the other. Our max here thru 24 summers is also 93, twice, 7/3/02 and 9/9/02. 90+ distribution by months looks a bit odd, with 2 in May, 8 in June, 3 in July, 4 in August and 2 in September. 2002 had 7 such days; no other year had more than 3.

TS coverage was spotty, making our experience an anomaly - we usually miss storms like that while places within a few miles get pounded. Our storms arrived from WNW, so a different cell than what was heard in Bridgton. The 2-storm total was 1.14" and Solon, 25 miles to the NE, had 2.12" (and few details offered ) for the only other cocorahs report over 1". Farmington cocorahs, about 3 miles NW from the co-op site, reported 0.63" and Temple, one town farther west, only 0.13". My crosstown neighbor, 3 miles ENE from our place, hasn't yet reported. Unlike the Solon observer, I entered all the details, perhaps too many, in my report.

Act 2 was even better, maybe the best TS since we lived in Fort Kent. Lots of close CG, oddly most a few minutes before the first drop. Distance, by flash/bang interval in seconds: 3, 3, 1+ (very tiny +), 2, also a 4 during the first burst of RA. That first 5 minutes ended with maybe 1/2 minute of lgt/mod RA then the really good stuff - windblown RA++ with visibility 100 yards or less, gusts into the 40s (must be some trees own in the area) and scattered hail, mostly pea but some dimes - one flattened chunk blown across the porch was 1/2" by 3/4". Total precip from 3:45 to 4:10 was 0.91" and almost all, certainly 0.8"+, fell 3:54-4:04. That 2nd burst had to have been 5"+/hr. It came on NE wind while the 1st burst (G30+) came on SW wind.

My doubt was unfounded, as a TS (one lonely strike, though <2 mi distant) dumped 0.23" between 1:30 and 2, with more than half coming in 3-4 minutes a few minutes before 2. If those frigid GFS temps for Sunday verify and are followed that night by clear and calm, we might be flirting with frost mere hours before the solstice.

The widespread showers gave us one sprinkle (T) about 2 AM. Coastal counties (except Penobscot) were the wet spots, though the midcoast got less than south coast and downeast. Sullivan in Hancock got over 1.8". Doubt that we get any of the isolated showers this afternoon, so dry until late week. Yesterday finally reached 80, first time since May 22.

Fortunately for the snappers, once breeding age/size is reached they essentially have no natural predators and can live 50 years or more.

Would not complain about a repeat - 1976-77 gave the local co-op 116% average snow and 2nd coldest met winter since 1917-18 (their coldest), so great retention.

Major rivers, mountains in NNE run north-south, so the east-west roads tend toward hills and curves.

I think those big black horse flies would carve out a fair size steak if one let them bite. Mosquitos are dainty, sipping thru a straw. Black flies scratch out a wound and lick up the blood. Once in the woods when I tripped and cut the palm of my outthrust fall-breaking hand, the black flies continuously tried landing on the resulting buffet table. Deerfly bites feel like they've bitten off a piece of flesh; also, when I've successfully smacked one on my head, all its friends come to the funeral, and they all expect a meal. When there's several dozen circling and occasionally bumping into face/hair/arms, it's easy to miss the ones that land successfully. (Until it's too late) Some of life's NNE pleasures.

First drops at 10:20, ground almost wet at 11:45. Morning AFD talked about an inch or more - would be nice but I doubt we get that much. Duplicating yesterday's 0.53" would help.

What we called horse flies in NNJ were jet black, maybe with a hint of blue, and over an inch long. They would occasionally dive bomb the local beach (never saw them in the woods). I never got bitten by one, perhaps because I could hold my breath - under water - longer than most. Up here, the brown penny-size ones look fierce, but it's the smaller black deer flies that I most despise. In the north woods we'd have dozens circling us as we walked, and one cannot outrun them - I've had squadrons pace my vehicle at 20 mph. (Or as a co-worker said as a couple dozen flew alongside our moving truck, "Doesn't that make you eager to get out into the woods?") Confusing things up north were the "sweat-lickers", critters slightly smaller than a housefly that would arrive in their hundreds. They never bit, but with hordes of dark insects swarming, we couldn't know which ones were carrying knives.