tamarack

Still had 27" at the stake here on 4/9/08. The winter of SWFE swarms.

Both December and March haven't been pulling their weight over the past 3-4 winters here. We've had 3 straight BN snow totals, and Jan-Feb have been 95% of average but Dec-Mar only 60%. Including 18-19, my most recent AN winter, the 4 Jan-Febs had 105% snow while Dec-Mar had that same 60%. Perhaps making up for 16-17 and 17-18, when both December and March had 2-year totals near 170% of average?

Not many in 95-96 except maybe for a day, as the January downpours blew away what was looking to be a real pack. Only time in 130 winters that Farmington lost 32" of depth in January, and probably no other January is close. (Depth records only began in 1941 but I'm confident of the above comment.)

I've read laments about the Boxer, mainly due to noise. Since getting our 1st Subaru in 1991 - the old Loyale though back then it was just "Subaru" - we're on #6, all purchased used, and have had almost no issues with the engine itself in 550k miles. #4, a 1999 Outback, blew a head gasket but it was also our only near-lemon, had several other major repairs plus being a bullseye for other vehicles and deer. Last 2 were Foresters and we've not put much money beyond ordinary maintenance. (Except for a November collision but that wasn't the vehicle's fault.)

Mothers' Day?

I've had little experience with the RAV 4 but enough to think our Forester is much the better - a bit more clearance, more internal room, better visibility, similar mileage (to the gas RAV). Just IMO. The vehicles seen in our area are quite heavy to Subarus, but pickups are more common. As for mud roads, proper drainage plus 8-12" of good gravel is the remedy, though even that won't stand up to loaded log trucks and the like, hence the posters. The town's road manager and crew have been fighting with a mud disaster road 3 miles NE of my place, while the 2,000' of gravel between our place (at the end of maintained road) and pavement merely gets briefly slimy with the first real late winter warmth. It has good material and once the top few inches are thawed, light traffic is easily supported. I wish no pavement here, as several culverts move up and/or down during winter and spring and the tar would quickly become a mess.

I agree with Dendrite about waiting until transplant shock has ended. Tree spikes worked quite well for our apple trees, but I don't know if there are varieties for plants more adapted to acidic sites. The regular ones should work okay, however. I've read that tree fertilization (of any kind) should stop at least 3 months before first frost, to limit the chances of an early frost nipping still-active shoots.

Nice mild-up, but IMO "torch" in April means 10°+ AN and only D7 gets there. Better than 40s mank of course.

Cloud-free upper 50s here with little wind, even better than yesterday's cloud-free 54 with a moderate breeze. Two straight full sun days in April - NNJ wx. (But payback comes on next 4 days.)

This winter's D+ was the 4th D in 24 years here. A: 2 (00-01, 07-08) B: 9 (02-03, 04-05, 06-07, 08-09, 13-14, 14-15, 16-17, 17-18, 18-19) C: 5 (98-99, 03-04, 10-11, 12-13, 19-20) D: 4 (99-00, 01-02, 11-12, 21-22) F: 4 (05-06, 09-10, 15-16, 20-21)

Going from my experience, that spruce probably won't get much bigger in its first year there, as up to 90% of its roots stay behind when it's lifted for transplant. That makes keeping the soil moist (not soggy) extra important, though you probably know that already. The tree should do much better in years 2+.

Would be fitting after Mehrch 2022.

Jan 21 thru Feb 6 earned an A, with record low temps plus storms of 12.4" and 9.5". Unfortunately, the rest of the cold season gets an F.

As noted on the loop, we were right on the rain/snow line and stayed there thru most of the storm - 1.11" LE, 1.4" SN. Blecch. (But likely more snow than we see this April.) Down to scattered patches, and here the wood frog "quacks" are heard a week or 2 before peepers. A couple upper 50s days and the frogs may sound off.

Unless there's some slush later this week, this might be my first flake-free April here, given the warm-up progged for mid-month. 4/99, 4/09 and 4/12 had only traces.

Looking for another 1976 or 2002? In Maine, "furnace" and "April" don't work together unless there would be a 1982-like cold snap to make the machine run like it's January. There's been a handful of ~90 one-day spikes but nothing like the heat waves of those Aprils noted in the query. BDL topped out at 96 in 4/1976 and 95 in 4/2002.

The way I weight the different months, by proportional average snowfall, that wouldn't be possible. Currently we average 49.5% of total snowfall by the end of January, and if I had B+ thru then (didn't get close despite a good Jan) and then had F's from then on, lowest I could get would be C-, unless I had something like last March snowfall, where 0.1" (and that was generously measured) was so ridiculous that I scored it -1 on my 4 (A) to zero (F) scale. +/- grades score X X plus .33 and X minus .33, respectively. Months establishing new records for cold and/or snow at the Farmington co-op (129 yr POR) get a 5. Subjective? Of course. Currently at D+ and given April/May's weak weight (6%), neither F's nor A's would be likely to change it. That would rank this winter 19th out of 24, bottom quartile. This winter and last are easily the worst consecutive pair since moving here in May 1998, and adding 19-20 makes for the worst trio.

Titanium plate and 4 screws in my neck since fusion surgery at C-4 in April 2011, no adverse reaction and they don't trigger the TSA scanners. My wife's 2 artificial knees mean a full examining every time.

No scoffing intended, and I agree that purchasing power was greater in the 60s to 90s than now. One issue I see is the "mandate" that one must go to college. There are probably lots of debt-burdened college grads who would've been happier and more prosperous if they had learned a trade. There's an old joke about a doctor having some plumbing work done. When he sees the bill, he exclaims, "You charge higher than I do!" "I know. I used to be a doctor."

My son, born 1972, sent me a book called "The Age of Entitlement" which laid that title on boomers. I'm in that age group but have had a quite different experience than the "entitled" folks addressed in the book, so no offense here.

Same here. March 18 was sunny and 61 here, and we had windows open on the sunny side for much of the afternoon. Our thermostat is set at 62 but the woodstove keeps things warmer, though we got down to 63 by sunrise on one of January's coldest mornings. Furnace runs mostly for domestic hot water. Reading others' cost for window replacement makes me feel quite fortunate. Six+ years ago (Nov. 2015) we paid about $4,500 to replace 8 separate double-hungs plus 2 more with the picture window assembly, and one casement over the kitchen sink. Nice Andersen products, wood frames to fit our cabin. Also got a new storm door in that 4.5k.

Climo for March 2022: Avg temp: 29.81 +2.34 Avg high: 39.87 +1.27 Highest 61° on the 18th Avg low: 19.74 +3.40 Lowest -10° on the 1st Precip: 2.97" -0.54" 4th consecutive BN March and 7th of the last 8. YTD is 0.76", precip is 92% of avg. Max day: 0.68" 12th and 19th Snow: 10.0" -6.4 Also 4th consecutive BN Max day: 3.5" on the 12th Avg. depth: 15.4" -2.4" Season TD for SDDs: 1,512 (and probably <10 more unless April brings siggy snow.) Avg: 1,763 Median: 1,478 Deepest: 23" on 2nd/3rd Grade: D for both temp and snow. (Maybe D- for snow given the pitiful largest event.)

One of the few times in the past 6-8 years when climo ruled. And it was close here - our 2 big events dropped 13.5" and 13.3". Six miles west, Farmington recorded 18.5" and 16.9". GYX totaled just 4.5" from the 2 storms.

2014 is the coldest March in the 129 years at the Farmington co-op. 1984 is #2.

0.2" of IP during the wee hours, brings the month to 10.0", about 60% of average and 4th consecutive BN March.