tamarack

Cape May gets the jackpot. Of course!

Does surface tension suffice in a real downpour? I would think that the heavier the rate, the greater chance of the flow overcoming it. (Merely an observation, as our 12 feet of no-end-caps gutter that protects the porch stairs hasn't caught many (any?) leaves.) My brown leaves are still hanging on as well. A lot of nut trees seem to have brown leaves hold on for weeks and months like oak and beech. I’m not sure what the normal tendency for American chestnuts is although I seem to recall them doing this in previous years. Even the understory oaks and beech have lost their leaves. usually some of those saplings hold brown/tan leaves all winter. Another November downpour - 3rd day with 0.04", month total up to 0.14" from 4 "events". Wildfire in NNJ (West Milford) has invaded NY, up to 3,000+ acres.

NYC's driest met summer and 2nd hottest behind 2010. That year and 1953 are Central Park's only years with 4 days 100+. The 3-day weekend Sat/Sun/Mon July 2-4, 1966 had highs of 100/103/98, LGA 101/107/99 and EWR 102/105/100. I'm guessing that it was closer to 150 between counter and grill at Curtiss-Wright's NNJ lake resort where I was out straight serving the place's biggest crowd in the 2 summers I worked there.

In April of 1963 more than a dozen houses were destroyed during a brush fire on Staten Island. Imagine whet an insurance adjuster would think, "A forest fire? But you live in New York City - you've got to be kidding!" (That same windy day, nearly 200,000 acres were scorched in the NJ Pine Barrens, along with a hundred or so buildings.)

In the summer of 1966, the reservoirs supplying NYC were under 15% capacity and the available water was measured in weeks, not months. Then 4-6" came down on 9/21. A 2" storm might be enough to recharge things in SNE, though a lighter but longer event would better calm the fire danger.

I think he stores it in the County. Might be wetter there - Fort Kent had about twice what I had.

Bad omen for here - bare ground while 20 miles away at similar elevation has 12"+. 12z GFS (from PF) also zero to 12+ within 20 miles. Nice for points N and W, however.

I always bring home some ticks during deer season, Nov 2-30 this year. Spring and fall seem to offer more of the little horrors, mid-late summer they seem to disappear. Had mid 30s late last evening, clouds pushed it to low 40s by 7 this morning.

Those who remember the 4-year drought in the 1960s would call this merely a dry spell. When Quabbin drops below 50% capacity, that's a drought. (This isn't downplaying the fire danger from crispy leaves and surface drying. "Real" drought brings plunging water tables and dry wells.) Morning low of 48 is 20° AN.

Water must be a bit brisk (50s?) but at least one can warm up easily with temps in the 70s.

Stars were out last evening, so a bit of rad and low of 41. Now mid 60s.

I'm confident that you're familiar with the Great Appalachian Gale. In NNJ we were well into the warm side, with moderate rain and very strong winds - lots of fallen leaf-off oaks and maples. In my experience, only the backside NW gales behind the blizzard that ate Bangor on 12/31/62 can compete with the winds of 11/25/50. Going back to Stein - I noted that NYC recorded only 0.01" for October, their driest month since records began in 1869 and only June 1949 (0.02") is close. 3rd driest is 0.14" in Oct 1963. (EWR had only traces last month. Their previous record was 0.07", June 1949 and May 2021.)

As usual. I often get my Johnny's Selected Seeds catalog during winter's coldest.

Last Friday I covered the grill and moved it to its winter spot and brought the snowblower out of the shed. Might counteract alex's travel plans.

So all the WSOs issuing frost advisories and freeze warnings are just being silly (along with all the farmers who grow warm weather crops outside of greenhouses)? Haven't looked at the max-min yet. It was low 20s last evening but clouded over about dawn, currently mid 30s with echoes overhead but no chance of precip thanks to lots of dry air (as usual). Yesterday's 19 was the 3rd sub-20 morning here, but the bok choy still looks fine.

Our lawn is still mostly green, and it's been under 20 on a couple mornings - maybe a 3rd one today. Picked some arugula yesterday; though about half of the plants show freeze damage there was still some good leaves. After the +20 on Friday, yesterday was exactly on the average as it was down to 28 by the 9 PM obs. Today/tomorrow in the 6-8 BN and then some more warmth.

I enjoy the climate where I live now: Small tornados (I'm quite happy seeing bigger ones only on media.) Small earthquakes Small hurricanes Big snowstorms

Only due to yesterday's leftovers here. High will be 50 as that was the temp at my obs time at 9 last evening. Morning low was near 40 but should be well down into the 30s by 9 tonight. Clouds are hanging on though I expect them to fade away later this afternoon.

More likely it was 2017. In 2007 the pattern changed from mild to cold in mid January, and February here was 7.2° BN. Then came the record cold blast in March. January 2017 had a late month 11-day run that averaged 15° AN, then late February saw temps in the mid 50s, probably 60s down your way. Yesterday's 69/50 was 20° AN, but no match for 11/6/22, 69/58 for +26. Cloudy 40s today; hoped the cool down would get the deer moving, but none seen here.

Hot time in the Pine Barrens?

I'm glad I'm not a couple years older, before even helmets were used.

Morning low today was 55, which is +25 (though it will be eclipsed this evening). Most recent +25 low had been Christmas 2020. Most recent low of 25+ BN was Feb 4, 2023. I must've missed that volcano.

That triggers a memory of contrasting October days in the pads. 10/26/62 was the usual Friday walk-through rather than real work, and we'd had 0.7" snow overnight and the day never saw sun or rose above the mid 30s - too much standing around for those temps. Same date in 1963 was my first game playing both offense and defense - every play but kickoffs and the game's final snap when a 2nd-stringer came in. Temps were mid-upper 80s with humidity and I sweated off about 15 pounds - low 190s to high 170s. Also the 2nd of our rare victories in a 2-6-1 season. (Previous 3 years the team was 25-2; our senior class wasn't very good.) Numbers for last month: Avg max: 57.0 +1.4 Highest was 70, on the 21st and 31st Avg min: 35.5 +0.5 Lowest was 17, on the 29th Mean: 46.3 +1.0 Avg diurnal range of 21.5 was +0.9. After 15 straight months with BN ranges, now AN for both Sept/Oct. Precip: 1.89" -3.56" Wettest days, 0.61" on the 7th, 14th 2nd driest October of 27 and the driest Sept/Oct (3.40"), 0.70" less than S/O 2001. Total departure for the 2 months was 5.74" but the YTD is still 3" AN. No flakes were observed.

Only frostbit my cheeks once, in January 1988, Aroostook. That Wednesday morning the temp at the Forestry building on the east shore of Portage Lake read -32 and the anemometer needle was wiggling at 30 mph - CAR reported WCI at -85 (old scale, -50s with the new) and their max was -9. We'd driven 250 miles from AUG so out we went. Morning on the Oxbow Public Lot was reasonable as we were sheltered from the wind. Afternoon on the Bald Mountain (T12R8, 20 miles west of Ashland) we were facing the gales, and being about 1,000 feet higher than CAR, I doubt we had temps much above -15. Three cold hours on the lot (I had double gloves on, barely sufficient) and we headed out, our staff biologist on his Elan and 2 of us on a Tundra. We had to ride 2 miles on the plowed road as parking was limited, and when we hit that road on the way back - however fast a Tundra would go 2-up was our speed, and I was in the back trying to hide behind the 5'2" driver. Tried to protect my face with my hands, but when we reached the truck, I was told there were matching white hourglass patches on each cheek. 1st degree bite so no problems. Tickled 70 here today, not much WCI.

Seeing the procedure for thawing frostbite reminds me of my worst frostbite, in Feb 1976. A series of unfortunate events, starting with no heat at the camp on Big 20 leaving my only boot liners frozen, left me not able to feel my feet by the time we reached the boundary line we were refreshing. No worries, though, as I was breaking trail for the crew in deep snow and knew that within 15 minutes, I'd be taking off my gloves to avoid sweat-soaking them. Big toes were red and swollen that night and 6-7 days later the skin on the tips was blue-black, with skin almost 1/8" thick sloughing off a few days later to reveal nice new pink skin. Maybe thawing from within was the best procedure of all (though for the next 10-12 years those toes were quite sensitive to cold). "If ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise." (Emerson?)