tamarack

Today's prices boggle my mind, though it's almost 44 years since I last skied and almost 54 since I learned parallel during a ski week at Glen Ellen (now Sugarbush North). For $45 one would get 5 days' lift tickets and daily lessons plus 2 "parties" - spiced wine and ski films immediately after the lifts stopped. Except that year they cut the January price in half!

Living in Gardiner then, and 12/31/89 reached 38 after 32 days of highs 32 or lower (29 were 24 or lower). December's mean of 8.9° was 13.1° BN, then January came in at 17.4, which was +7.0. However, 12/89 brought 21.6" while Jan had 24.9. Lowest temp in Jan was -1, the same as December's average low, as that month featured 17 days at/under -1. The cold arrived with the Nov 21 thunderblizzard. I'd parked the ancient Subaru (2WD) pointing north, and the wind filled most of the space under the hood and froze the throttle cable, causing some "fun" as the battery was low - start/roar/shut down 3x before the cable ice shook off what I hadn't been able to scrape off. We were too far north for the T-Day storm but the max of 17 (with flurries) was easily the coldest in our 13 Novembers there. (Punched my deer tag that day as well. ) Next day's min of -1 was lowest by 6°.

We had 21" from that event and it arrived mere hours after 8" of 30:1 feathers. Feb 7-16 featured 45" from 3.83" LE and was quite a shock for the Lab mix from TX that we adopted on the 4th. We also had 21" on Dec 29-30 and that one was meatier, 10:1 compared to 12:1 in Feb, but the most powerful storm that 16-17 winter was the Pi Day blizzard.

IMO, a few spots 40+ aren't enough for the "B" - Both 12/20 and 3/23 had some 40s reported (and the Erie/Ontario LES bands several times) but of that lot, I'd only nominate the one that dumped 5-6 feet in the BUF area. 40" of 12:1 snow creates far more disruption than when it's 25:1 fluff. In Maine I'd say that only Feb 1969 passes the sniff test, with some western mountains and foothills locales hitting the 40 mark and with over 4" LE. We did have the Historic Feb 69 storm that a SLP did a fujiwara in the GOM for 3 days that dumped 36" here and i believe 40" in Farmington. 43", more than a foot bigger than any other one there. (The Dec 6-7, 2003 storm was reported as 40" but I think it was measured in one of the many drifts. We were at church, 1.3 miles SE from the co-op site and 110' higher, less than 2 hours after accum ended, and the snow there looked much like at my place 5.3 miles to the east. My 24" was 6" by my 9 PM obs time and 18" after. The Farmington co-op obs came at midnight and was 14" on the 6th and 26 the next day. Given conditions at 9 PM, a midnight obs at my place might've been 12/12, so 14 for 12/6 is reasonable but that 26 is not.)

-7 this morning, month's coldest. Last 5 days averaged -3. Without Christmas Eve it's -6 but the 6" of fluff that day was the best.

Wolfie quick to counter snowy, but what about RadarMan’s area? 30 burgers are tough. I think October 2011 in the northern Berks? I haven't seen one in the past 78 years. However, I've encountered 7 storms in the 24-26.5" range, starting with 3/56 and most recently 2/09.

Looks like a smashing CF after a cutter. Exciting but no thanks.

Last winter was a disaster, with blowdowns and flood damage from the Dec 18 storm and thaws/rains that followed, while the North had way BN snowfall. 22-23 was better, especially in Aroostook.

For some fortunate NNE peeps that have been on the good side of several events, claiming Dec was awful would be disingenuous. We'll finish the month BN for temps unless Mon-Tues come in at 50/35. And if we see nary a flake over the next 25 days, it would be mid-Jan before snowfall drops into the under. Of course, there's always a chance that the storm track moves way south, and we watch SNE/MA shoveling out while we enjoy the edges. (In 2021-22 some NNJ sites had Feb snow that equaled/exceeded our entire season's snow.) Only a few more months before we debate whether or not 60F dews are humid or COC. Depends on the date - on May 2 that's definitely humid; August 2 CoC (if dry).

Cloudy yesterday after a peek of sun early, temp was still 20 at 10 PM. Then the clouds departed and we were in the -5 vicinity 9 hours later.

He must be working his magic somewhere else. 6th non-Grinch in 27 Decembers, still a pitiful proportion.

Finished with 6.3" as the 8-10 AM period added nearly 2". Y&TD is 31.5", the most for pre-New Year's since 2018. Last tiny flakes at about 10:30 then noon -2:30 was sunny. Clouds rolling in now, probably with some breeze to unload the upper branches.

5th purchased cord is tarped near the driveway, March-May wood. The 3/4 cord from the arborist-felled basswood (plus some other stuff I cut) is long gone. About 5" new, 12" at the stake and light SN continuing. The rare non-Grinch!!!

3.8" of 15:1 fluff by 7 this morning, passing 5" now but probably won't quite get to 6. Forecast added up to 3-5 so a slight overperformer. If we get a calm clear Christmas night and/or the next night, this new stuff will make for super rad. Month is now above average, 2nd time in the last 3 following 4 straight far BN Decembers.

Two days ago, the Rt 2 corridor was looking at 2-3"; now that's doubled. 4-5" of 15-20 to 1 fluff would be very nice, just right to pack into the remaining ruts from the 2" RA on 12/11-12.

Lots of people watching their firewood piles shrinking faster than expected.

The 2 big storms of December 2003 had very different characteristics here, and I think that dendrite growth might've been why. Neither storm had any mixing. 12/6 20 5 0.43 6.0 12/7 22 18 1.20 18.0 Total: 1.63" 24.0" Ratio 14.7 Very windy (est 25G40), massive drifting 12/14 15 -15 0.02 0.2 12/15 22 11 1.53 13.0 Total: 1.55" 13.2" Ratio 8.5 Breezy (est 15-25), little drifting

Farmington, Maine co-op for Jan 1904. It's in a river valley and radiates well. Seems odd that it would be 13° less cold early in the month and 19° colder on the 19th. Taunton's early month cold has some fantastic diurnal ranges, too, spanning 52° then plunging 48, followed by leaping up 55. 1/1/1904 20 -6 0 0 1/2/1904 2 -9 0 0 1/3/1904 6 -7 0.3 3.5 1/4/1904 -2 -22 0 0 1/5/1904 12 -11 0 0 1/6/1904 8 -16 0 0 1/7/1904 27 1 0 0 1/8/1904 20 -2 0.07 1 1/9/1904 22 20 0.33 4 1/10/1904 25 19 0 0 1/11/1904 28 -4 0 0 1/12/1904 24 5 0 0 1/13/1904 24 19 0.05 2 1/14/1904 35 20 0.99 4 1/15/1904 30 10 0 0 1/16/1904 17 0 0.05 2 1/17/1904 18 -5 0.25 3 1/18/1904 12 -4 0 0 1/19/1904 10 -29 0 0 1/20/1904 12 -16 0 0 1/21/1904 26 3 0 0 1/22/1904 18 1 0.7 5 1/23/1904 24 5 0.2 0 1/24/1904 31 19 0.005 0.005 1/25/1904 20 3 0 0 1/26/1904 13 -8 0.01 0.5 1/27/1904 22 5 0.57 6.5 1/28/1904 17 -15 0 0 1/29/1904 17 -5 0 0 1/30/1904 24 -2 0 0 1/31/1904 33 -8 0 0

When I was chasing skidders in the Allagash-St. John country 45 years ago, the smart skidder drivers would have a 100-lb propane tank keeping the machines 'startable'. One fellow without such equipment built a fire under the oil pan one -30° morning. It finally worked (I think- didn't stand around waiting) but it created frost nearly an inch thick on the upper part of the engine. There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing. Or as U. Maine's (late) 'Southern Gentleman' silviculture professor would say, "Theh's no such thing as inclement weatha, just impropa clothin'." Near -5 this morning rather than the expected -10, as the air was still moving around a bit at 10 last evening.

Not necessarily a snow killer - some of my comments on the 26.5" storm in 1984 at Fort Kent. It brought the depth to 65", easily the tallest I've recorded. Storm of March 14-15: FK schools released at noon, in 3"/hr SN++, all home safely. Bar. 30.40 at start, 30.05 end. CAR: 29.0, BGR 22.2", AUG 18.3", PWM:15.5" The school comment illustrates why Fort Kent lost only 1.5 days to snow in our 10 years there. Some FK students lived 25-30 miles away, in Allagash or Winterville. Mostly flat going to the first, lots of hills to reach the 2nd. The full day came on Feb 6 that same year when a storm forecast of 1-3 verified at 18" overnight and the parking lots couldn't be plowed in time.

That's not an issue for me - I don't carry a smartphone. Total snowfall is 25.2", with an 8" paste job Thanksgiving night and a 3-6 forecast turning into 3+6 on 12/5.

It's in the sig, and expecting another 2-3 of fluff tomorrow night. Pack got up to 16" early in the month, down to 7 at present.

Siggy AN here, maybe, but not a torch. My running average for December temps rose to 22.36° after 12/15's record 29.69. We then had 4 straight BN months ('17 at 14.32, our coldest) that dragged the avg down to 21.64. Then 20-23 were all AN, especially 22&23, and the avg is back to 22.34. I expect this month to finish in the +1 to -1 range.

Farm country, just west of the Barrens.

Kids live in Monroeville, about 6 miles south from Glassboro. (And 515 miles from here - still better than when they lived in Decatur, IL.)