tamarack

Would've been nice if NBC10 Boston had noted that the MassDOT rate was for just the driver and the big numbers were for both truck and driver. Still a decent rate from MDOT though it's earned.

Got into the 20s for the 8th consecutive morning here. We've had 5 sunny/mostly sunny days this month and 3 PC. Only 7 of the previous 23 Novembers have recorded more than 5 sunnies and none have had more than 8. Maybe that means little/no sun the rest of the month? (After today, anyway - bright sun with a few wispy clouds. Picked the wrong time [7:30] to take the garbage out to the pick-up spot - sun appeared to sit right on the road and with re-forming frost I had to drive with head out the window. Not going to warm up the vehicle for a 2,000' journey.)

And opposite of recent months. For July-October my 24-year average diurnal range is 21.66°. This year it's 17.85° and both July and September set new lows for range. After yesterday's 56/23 the Nov max is running 1.5° AN while the min is 4.5° BN.

Here we're enjoying the incredible run of sunny/mostly sunny days in what's our cloudiest month on average. However, the clear nights are running 4-5° BN so even though highs are about normal the month is at -2.2 thru yesterday.

Trees that grow up at about the same time share the wind load, nd while trees (some species) can bulk up roots in response to greater movement from wind, often the loss of a few triggers loss of more. The expanding gap phenomenon is commonly seen as a significant way the Maine forest regenerates itself. Local tagging station is running well ahead of last year. Only thing I got yesterday was ticks - lots of little rodents rustling the leaves where I was sitting. Found 4 last evening then another this AM in a great (for a tick) place, the hollow of my left knee. After 10+ minutes of contortions I managed to remove it. Glad it was the left side so I could run the tiny Swiss Army Knife tweezers with my right. (The bigger ones from the med cabinet couldn't grip the tiny beast.)

Grandkids FTW

Low RH causing 'sublimational' cooling?

Long Falls Dam" 56" (Maine's top for a single storm) Pinkham Notch: 77" MWN: 98" Even LEW reached 36", and to the northeast it's BGR's greatest snowfall at 30.9", though with far less impact than the 29.5" blizzard of 12/30-31/1962.

The 15" storm of Feb 19-20, 1972 was followed by a cold 4" event 4 days later then 6" on the 26th. If we go earlier, ORH had 12+ on 2/16/64 and 7-8" on the 19-20th. BDL had over 10" in that 2nd storm so maybe South Worcester did better than the co-op. The 2/24-28/69 storm is Farmington's biggest on record with 43". At the end the pack was 84" and though the daily increases during the storm matched exactly the daily snowfall obs (usually a cause for suspicion), the decrease in pack during early March appears quite logical given temps/precip. That giant pack held the "official" state record until 2017 when Chimney Pond got up to 94".

Only by the squirrels

Yup, and the washtub skim was 3/8" thick this morning.

Nearest to 1967 I see for NNJ might be Feb 1972, with a powerful storm on 19-20 but a much lesser storm (3-5") 4 days later. The Mayor Lindsey storm on Feb 9-10, 1969 was that month's only siggy snow and other Febs in that general timeframe fall way short. Feb 19-20, 1964 had a nice dump, especially since it had been a rain forecast, but again no 2nd act. Where were you living at that time?

And reminds me of our neighbor when we lived in Gardiner, who would snow-blow his driveway 3-4 times during a 6" snowfall. Otherwise a very good sort, even when I woke him up the Thursday evening of Jan 8, 1998 so I could call our office manager in Farmington and she could alert staff that state employees were off the next day. We'd lost our phone when a large pine branch ripped the cable off the pole. (His porch and steps were covered in 1" of wet ice, making for a fun trip back down after the call.) Last 4 morning minima: 22, 20, 22, 20. Can't quite dig into the teens. IZG reported 17.

Among the native birches (river birch range mainly west of the DE River), yellow birch is sometimes found doing fairly well in wet areas. So is gray birch but it's a short-lived messy tree that's exceedingly vulnerable to ice due to it's very fine twig size. White birch and black birch don't like wet feet.

I'm not sure if any storms during that wonderful winter hit all the blizzard criteria, wind especially. In those days there was a <20° criterion that only the Feb 7 storm would fit - most of that 15" at our place fell at temps 4-8°. The Christmas Eve 15" came at low-mid 20s. (And thunder!) The St. Patties' Day clipper would've met temps (got down to 8° toward storm's end that morning) and was close on wind but might not have held the requirements for 3+ hours. The March equinoctal storm was 10" but all the rest after the 3 biggies were 7" or less. It took the 3" surprise on 4/27 to crack 100.

1966-67 in NNJ (some from memory as records were lost) NOV 0" DEC 30.5" JAN 2.0" FEB 31.5" MAR 32.0" APR 4.5" 100.5"

Some graupel on the windshield this morning, and white ground 2 miles south. About 9 days later than average for 1st frozen.

The wx weenie part of me says, "Bring it on!" The forester part screams, "Noooooooo!"

I doubt anyone knows exactly how this will shake out, given the law of unintended consequences, which will never be repealed. A 20-head piggery in a PWM residential neighborhood? Animal abusers using the new amendment as a defense? ???????

Godzilla was here.

Seeing this pic reminds me of the pics I didn't get in 1998, 2 in particular, as the camera was damaged and left at home. First was a phone cable pulled down to 6-8' from the ground and covered with icicles. Stress had rotated the cable about 70°, clockwise from my viewpoint, and continued growth resulted in a bazillion 5-6" hockey sticks. Second was a recently installed utility pole carrying the main line along Brunswick Avenue in Gardiner. It had a feeder line down a side road with a long span to the nearest pole on that road, and the pull had deflected the top of that pole at least 10 feet, far more than I thought a pole could bend. 20 minutes later I looked at it again and by then it was in 3 pieces.

Farther north we had similar 2m temps and precip - rates & total - but accreted maybe 0.25". Must've been a skinnier cold surface layer. In the Jan 1953 ice storm in NNJ that probably triggered my interest in trees and weather, every tall tree near our home at 700' lost branches, often most of them, and a few trees snapped like breaking a pencil. (Noisier, though) In the next town, 2-3 miles north and 300' lower, it was mainly a cold rain. Hilltops above 800' had numerous "asparagus trees", naked stems with the lost branches piled around the base. It was nearly as severe as Jan 1998 though far far smaller in extent, limited to the hilly country N and W from NYC.

Bald cypress could certainly handle the wet and I think there are varieties that would be cold-hardy in most of CT (frost pockets excluded) but the natural range of the species is way south - Dismal Swamp in S.VA may be the farthest north for significant numbers. A reliable nursery staff is your friend.

Willows as a species are notorious for dropping branches and twigs in all seasons, and weeping willows are infamous for invading sewer pipes and septic systems. Red maple can tolerate fairly wet conditions but not if the ground is i=under water much of the growing season. RM is one of the most colorful trees in fall, and on a swampy site maybe you would have the earliest color. Swamp white oak might be another option though I'm not sure if nurseries stock it. Northern white cedar tolerates wet feet but you're too far south of its native range for it to be a good prospect. A reliable nursery staff could offer more detailed advice. GYX got a new office? Nice to see they aren't abandoning WFOs with all of the new offices being built in recent years (e.g. CTP, BOX). Nope - only the original one for GYX as the WSO used to be next to the Portland Jetport. A couple hundred yards from where the airplanes began their take-off roll is not conductive to good working conditions. Plus the radar at PWM was WW2 vintage and NWS wasn't going to put $$$ worth of NEXRAD at 50' elevation when there was a nice hill a dozen miles NW.

Too many smart people fail to recognize that trees grow, and that the growth offers both opportunities (for people like me) and problems.