tamarack

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.

0.46" thru 7 AM and about a tenth since, thus the greatest one-day precip since April. Forecast for tomorrow is 0.5-1", so a nice 2-day drink for the garden.

I'll buy residence time but not intensity (at the extremes, anyway.) Most recent day reaching 95 at the Farmington co-op was on Sept 9, 2002, and Sept 1999 featured several days with dews 70+. Marc 6, 2007 had an afternoon high of -2 at my place (spoiled by a cheap evening max) with strong winds, and 3/11/17 was even windier with an afternoon max at zero (also spoiled by the pervious evening.) On that latter blast, Jackman with its 7 AM obs time showed a high of -6. Those 2 cold March days were the bitterest (aft high and WCI) of their respective winters.

April here had a lot of cloudy days and had 18 days with rain, but in May I counted 15 sunny days, 3 more than any other of our 24 Mays here.

They're past peak here though the skeeter population remains high and deer flies are ready to take over the day shift. Huge amount of flowers on the white pines, so that pollen is ready to explode. Picked up a tick during today's fishing at North Pond, obviously not while ON the water. Bit of a mayfly hatch on the pond, lots of swirls as smaller fish took advantage. Caught a 27.5" pike (prob 5.5 lb) but the real trophy was a 9.5" pumpkinseed sunfish. I've fished since I was 6 y.o. (that's a lot of years!) and that's the biggest sunny I've ever caught, by a full inch.

Finally planted much of the veggie garden this morning, accompanied by the continuous whine of mosquitos, also feeding more than a few. Some seasonably mild RA later this week would be a bonus. Latest I've begun planting since our Fort Kent days.

Our family visited Maine when I was 6, Spruce Head (part of Boothbay Harbor), and my dad took 8 mm movies of my older brother and me swimming in the ocean there - had to be cold but many years have dulled that memory, especially because all my other memories from that trip were great. I'd go down to the shore before others were up and find sand dollars, old crab shells (that stunk but so what) and other treasures. Even was given a fresh "bug" by a local lobsterman, who was surprised when I just reached in and grabbed it. (I'm sure the critter's claws had been pegged.) Typical late spring post-frontal wx, lots of cu passing by and a brief shower about an hour ago. Visibility nearly endless, we take.

Saw some brief sun that pushed temp into the 60s, now cloudy and breezy. Aroostook under a flood advisory, radar shows some real bright colors in the western part of the County. Also shows nothing upstream for our area. Edit: Some 60-65 dbz a few miles south of Allagash village.

Looks like a 30-35 lb critter. That dark mulch should keep those eggs nice and warm.

November's nice there too - only rains once that month. Unfortunately, it starts on the 1st and lasts thru the 30th. SEA wx here yesterday, high of 56, things stayed wet, but only 0.15" RA. Less than 2" since May 1. Gardens just love cool, cloudy, dry.

No bag limit in Maine on perch of either color. I'd caught nice one 10" but tossed it back. Had I caught another like that one, I'd have started keeping them, but the other 2 that got caught were 7-8"; for me that's too small to be worth cleaning. I also caught an 18" pike that jumped like its junior cousin; I'd never before seen a pike much longer than a foot jump clear of the water, while I've had 20"+ pickerel do it. 20 years ago I'd catch as many pickerel as pike at North Pond, but only one in the past dozen years as the bigger guys took over.