tamarack

55.5" here that month; only Dec. 1976 (61.5") in Fort Kent have I had a snowier month. Farmington co-op recorded 58.3", their 4th snowiest month in 130 winters - the other 3 were all in Feb. They measured 14" in the early March event while we had 9.5", which was a bit odd. The 2 storms during the month's final 10 days brought 35", with the 19" on 30-31 bringing the pack to 48". Even in our northern Maine winters there was never 4 feet OG at the end of March, and only 1984 was close. The April 1-2 Newfoundland blizzard had been forecast for another 12"+ here the day before it was to hit, but that one got away to the east and the snow season was done. There were dire flood forecasts due to the tall and dense pack, but April turned dry and cool until the 4th week, so all that snow went downriver without even sniffing flood level.

At the long-term Farmington co-op, cold Octobers are only good news if November is also cold. And while seasons with measurable October snowfall average somewhat AN, the Nov-May totals show essentially no difference. Sprinkles arrived here about 3:30. Might add another inch by late tomorrow night but would still be well short of the October average - it's our wettest month at 5.63" (median 5.32") and we're at 3.46" before precip started this afternoon.

Even with last week's 3 cloudy day period, this month has had 62% of available sunshine. Top October to date had 56.5%, in 2017. Keep it coming.

If we'd already had propane/LNG, our 13kw Generac (plus the required electrical work) would've cost closer to $6k when we took the plunge in April 2020, but buying tanks and filling them kicked it over $10k. We're happy to have been able to acquire the setup (at our ages, "camping out at home" was a drag) but in 2.5 years it's run less than half the time of our outage on April 9-10, 2020. And we'd already had a half dozen other blackouts in 19-20 before that storm.

MP outages got up near 70k, and I'm confident that there were additional folks in the dark northeast from their service area. Event total was 3.37", with more than half (1.82") coming in 6 hours, 11:30 AM to 5:30 PM. Yesterday's 3.30" is 7th highest here for a calendar day, though the total wasn't in the top 20 events. Carrabassett River came up 11 feet though its flow has dropped by half since that peak. Had a pretty wild 15 minutes 2:15-2:30 with RA+ and house-creaking gusts. I would not be surprised to find some newly fallen fir, exposed by nearly bare hardwood neighbors.

Looks (Stratus is 50 feet away) like almost 2.2". I've dumped 0.87" and from that distance there's maybe 0.3" overflow from a full inner tube. Still some moderate-plus showers but the wind became just a breeze about 2:30.

Sandy at Mercer up to 194 cfs, at Madrid 2,020.

Southwesternmost Maine for the win. 0/14/2022 8:40 AM ME-OX-14 Bethel 1.9 SSW 3.22 NA NA NA NA NA NA ME Oxford Active | Static 10/14/2022 8:30 AM ME-OX-34 Andover 3.8 W 2.86 NA NA NA NA NA NA ME Oxford Active | Static 10/14/2022 8:20 AM ME-YK-46 Parsonsfield 3.9 NE 2.61 NA NA NA NA NA NA ME York Active | Static 10/14/2022 8:00 AM ME-YK-57 North Waterboro 1.2 NE 2.52 NA NA NA NA NA NA ME York Active | Static 10/14/2022 7:45 AM ME-YK-65 North Berwick 5.3 W 2.45 0.0 NA NA 0.0 NA NA ME York Active | Static 10/14/2022 7:00 AM ME-YK-25 Parsonsfield 4.2 NE 2.43 NA NA NA NA NA NA ME York Active | Static 10/14/2022 7:00 AM ME-YK-8 South Berwick 4.2 NE 2.35 NA NA NA NA NA NA ME York Active | Static 10/14/2022 8:00 AM ME-YK-75 Buxton 2.8 W 2.35 NA NA NA NA NA NA ME York Active | Static 10/14/2022 7:00 AM ME-YK-68 Berwick 0.5 N 2.28 NA NA NA NA NA NA ME York Active | Static 10/14/2022 7:00 AM ME-YK-3 Hollis Center 5.4 NW 2.17 0.0 NA NA 0.0 NA NA ME York Active | Static 10/14/2022 7:00 AM ME-OX-26 Oxford 5.3 SW 2.15 0.0 0.00 NA 0.0 0.00 NA ME Oxford Active | Static 10/14/2022 8:00 AM ME-YK-63 York 4.7 NNW 2.06 NA NA NA NA NA NA ME York Active | Static 10/14/2022 7:41 AM ME-YK-80 South Berwick 1.3 E 2.05 NA NA NA NA NA NA ME York Active | Static 10/14/2022 8:12 AM ME-OX-29 Sumner 1.1 N 2.02 0.0 0.00 NA 0.0 0.00 NA ME Oxford Active | Static 10/14/2022 7:00 AM ME-YK-18 Wells 3.5 SW 1.96 NA NA NA NA NA NA ME York Active | Static 10/14/2022 7:00 AM ME-YK-67 Cornish 5.6 ESE 1.94 0.0 0.00 NA 0.0 0.00 NA ME York Active | Static 10/14/2022 7:00 AM ME-CM-54 Windham 3.9 NW 1.85 0.0 0.00 NA 0.0 NA NA ME Cumberland Active | Static 10/14/2022 7:10 AM ME-OX-35 Porter 2.6 N 1.81 NA NA NA NA NA NA ME Oxford Active | Static 10/14/2022 8:00 AM ME-OX-2 Hartford 1.4 N 1.81 NA NA NA NA NA NA ME Oxford Active | Static 10/14/2022 7:00 AM ME-YK-5 Kennebunk 1.8 WNW 1.75 NA NA NA NA NA NA ME York Active | Static 10/14/2022 6:00 AM ME-CM-156 Raymond 0.7 ESE 1.70 The Wild River, 9 miles west of Bethel in Gilead, has climbed 8 feet, flow going from 22 cfs to 11,900, though it's nearing peak. It reached 7k about 5 AM, dropped a bit below 5k a few hours later, then the 2nd charge of rain hit. I'd not be surprised to learn that Bethel/Andover topped 5". (Just like on the maps, though probably the extent of the 4-6" color will verify for a much smaller area than was portrayed.)

As a very rough guess, OT/OT is about 80% deep progressive, 10% moderate and 10% arch-Trumpanista. What's not to (fight) like?

We're a bit north of 1.5" and the last big charge of RA is just arriving, so still a chance to reach 2". Oddity in the Sandy River flow. The gauge in Mercer, near the confluence with the Kennebec, had 168 cfs (median is 259) while the gauge in Madrid, 6 miles from the river's source on the east slope of Saddleback, had 1,710 cfs at the same time, leaping up from 7 cfs before this event began. I see the downstream flow topping out at 6-8k cfs, but it is odd when the flow at ~40 sq. mi. is 10x the flow at the full 570 sq. mi. watershed. Lights have blinked 4-5 times during the past hour, too short to kick in the genny but enough to mess with computer and TV. Gusts probably 35 or so, good for one good house creak. Rain is hitting windows on 3 sides of the house - only the NW-facing glass is (mostly) dry, just a few wind-swirled droplets.

0.87" thru 7 this morning. Some sites in York County reporting 3"+. Haven't had a 3"+ event since October of 2016 - we've had about 20 here since May 1998. Currently light RA with gusty SE wind and 60°.

Those are the forecast zones, with N. Maine the biggest east of the Mississippi - no surprise given population weighting, though climo at Jackman is quite different from MLT is different from CAR. I don't think any zones cross state boundaries; the east boundaries of western CT/MA meet but are separate zones.

Would take a lot, as current flow is 95 cfs, only 37% of median for the date. However, the morning map has most of the watershed (including my area) at 3-4" with 4-6" in the headwaters. Only 0.07" so far this month. Say goodbye to foliage and welcome to stick season! Already here, 80-100% leaf drop, depending on species, with oak at the lower end and white ash bare except for the huge seed load on the female trees. Made it to 40+ diurnal range with 69/27. That 42° span is tied for 2nd biggest here thru 25 Octobers. Oct 10, 2006 had 75/30 for the lead.

Living in a fake cold "hotspot", I still haven't been able to convince the pickup's battery that -20 isn't real. Close to 40° diurnal range today, but we'll not reach the needed 68° max.

Still some nice spots between here and Farmington, but for around the house, it's ovah!

Thanks The idea of my comparing New Sharon, Maine to the Jersey shore is literally lol.

Slightly OT, but this caught my attentions. Towns also hire seasonal part time police with no benefits, instead of full time officers, the second biggest impact on the municipal budget. Schools are the biggest part of our property tax bill, but roads - maintenance, plowing, etc, - are by far the 2nd biggest. Law enforcement is way down the list, as our town is too small to warrant its own police, and our bill for our share of the county sheriff budget is relatively small. Probably the town fire department would be #3. Of course, our town is definitely not a tourist destination, though this fall's colors have been quite nice.

Learned how to handle leaners during chainsaw training. Make a normal front notch, then plunge cut an inch or so behind it and cut backwards. Maybe make small cuts on both sides at notch level before the plunge cut. The usual back cut was called "chasing the hinge" by the instructor, while the plunge cut allows the cutter to know exactly when the tree will fall, rather than cutting until one begins to hear crackles. My first try of that method was a 16" diameter white ash, an "easy split" species, hanging over the driveway at a 45° angle (and gradually tipping farther). Worked just like the instructor's example. Black locust is not native to New England but has been widely planted here, sometimes on very infertile sites as reclamation as it fixes atmospheric nitrogen. It naturalizes readily, usually thru root sprouts, but is intolerant of shade so can't compete with native beech/birch/maple over the long term. Perhaps the most rot resistant of hardwood species, and heat value up with white oak, hickory and hophornbeam.

Down to 23 this morning, about 3 mm ice on the washtub water and it's raining leaves this morning. Yesterday's 45/26 was 12° BN, greatest negative departure since Fathers' Day and 2nd greatest since March 4.

Should be the final frost/freeze warning for this zone, as the "official" growing season ends today. Southern/coastal Maine will likely see more such advisories/warnings thru 10/20.

Sun began breaking thru the clouds about 3:30 and nearly an hour later the clouds are almost gone. The weak sun pushed the temp all the way to the mid 40s.

And vice versa. A recent NNE winter that stunk in NJ was 2007-08, about 160% of normal snowfall at the nearby co-op in the Maine foothills and the snowiest winter on record at CAR but <50% in NJ. The best converse might be 1960-61, which dumped a few inches past 100 at my place. The 3 biggies, 12/11-12, 1/19-20 and 2/3-4 brought a total of 42.5" at NYC, 56.7" at EWR and 60-65" at Jersey Highland sites including mine. The same co-op that had 160% snowfall in 2007-08 totaled 5.5" from those 3 blizzards and finished well BN for the season.

Wonderful catch! Looks like a big male - they weigh 2-3 times more than females. (Just a guess, as I don't have any visual scale though the later coyote pic would confirm the guess if the distances from camera were anywhere near similar.)

Another thick frost this morning, and the PC/50s forecast is down the tubes - solid gray with a few drips and low 40s here. Probably 70% leaf drop right around the house, but the general area is only a bit past peak, with some gorgeous views.

Above the tank would probably be the place, as its top is usually within 12-18" of the surface. The leach field might actually enhance growth.