tamarack

As I'm sure you know, climatologists are generally predicting more variable wx including bigger precip events and longer dry spells. So instead of (hypothetical) June having 6 days with significant RA totaling 4", we get 2 deluge days 3 weeks apart, totaling 5", much of which runs off rather than soaking in.

In my northern Maine experience the not0infrequent June frosts had no effect on the blackfly populations. Frozen dew atop the Forester this morning though the thermometer only got down to 33. We never set out the warm-wx plants until a few days into June. Median day for lst spring frost is May 24. Though ours is a frost-pocket location, it's probably not as cold on still mornings as Alex's place.

And as sentimental favorite to some, there was probably more than a little $$ placed on him.

Read that the bumping occurred while on 18 - walking toward that final green? So while no fun, it had little to do with the results.

Frozen dew on the Forester this morning, back into the 80s day after tomorrow. Whiplash.

I watched the middle holes (6-11 for the final pairing) and noted that course stewards were busy herding the crowds out of a player's line. Of course, the high proportion of drives/irons that went awry and into the crowds added to the stewards' work.

Saw the headline and assumed it was heat exhaustion from trying to do 100 km on a 35C day, but instead it was hypothermia in RA/IP/hail on a mountaintop.

That birch tree behind the stake seems rather close, though midwinter pow will sift right thru its branches. That said, being in mature forest should give a reasonably valid view of the overall pack. Sometimes small holes in a spruce-fir canopy can be snow collectors, gaining depth as winds blow the snow out of the treetops. The mixedwood character near the stake should avoid that potential bias.

0.07" with yesterday's front bring the May total to 0.77". I'd rather see a dry spell in midsummer when the veggie roots are well down into the soil than now at planting time. After 10 consecutive days with highs 73+, there was frozen dew on the vehicles this morning.

Not much else there. Clouds (and a 0.01" deluge) kept the max down to 78 here. We may be warmer by 10 AM today.

Unlike our black Lab, who would be in the water any time, anywhere, any temperature, any water condition (except frozen), our current Lab mix doesn't like water at all. However, she'll roll in any snow that's available despite being a rescue from TX - maybe still getting over the heat of the Lone Star State. Barely got under 60 last night. May get toasty before the front arrives about midday.

Not my only frostbite experience but by far the worst. In 1988, after we'd moved south and I took a position with the state, our staff biologist and I had traveled north to look at several lots. A CF had come thru the first afternoon, dropping mid 30s down to -2 by the time we turned off the lights at the Forestry building on the east shore of Portage Lake. Next morning the temp was -32 and the wind gauge was wiggling either side of 30 mph. At CAR the temp was -20 and the WCI (old scale) was -85, probably about -55 on the current scale. The afternoon was spent on Bald Mt Twp about 30 miles west of CAR and maybe 800' higher than the WSO. They topped out at -9 but I doubt we reached -15 where we were. On the 4 PM snowmobile ride back to the pickup I was 2nd up behind our shortest (5'2") forester and held fists to cheek as there was no place to hide at 40 mph upwind. Only a 2 mile ride but I had twin white hourglass-shaped patches on my cheeks. Only 1st degree so no effect once we were in the vehicle - only regret is that no one took a picture.

Got my black toe - actually both big toes - in Feb 1976 but the cause was quite obvious. Mt first winter as a forester in N. Maine and our boundary maintenance crew stayed overnight at a logging camp about 50 yards from Maine's northernmost tip and the pot burner went out during the night - inside temp 20s the next morning and my (only) bootliners were frozen. Long cold drive and 45 minutes mucking with a flooded snowsled engine at -10 (about average for that time and place) and the deed was done, though I didn't realize it until taking the boots off that evening at home. Also wasn't concerned that I couldn't feel my feet - 10 minutes of breaking trail on snowshoes in deep powder and I knew I'd be stuffing gloves into pockets as hands began to sweat. That was on a Thursday and by the following midweek the skin on the big toes turned black and then began to peel - 1/8" thick - revealing nice pink skin beneath. Hindsight says that thawing from within was probably the best way to treat 2nd degree frostbite. For the next 10-12 years those toes would become cold quickly and I had to be extra careful.

I think the place being pointed out as the boundary is where the expansion can be measured.

Passing the torch to the deerflies, with mosquitos ruling the night.

Part of the Golden Circle tour lets one see where the European and North American plates meet. Not allowed to stand with one foot in each continent, however - the plates are moving apart at about one cm/year and tour hosts don't want anyone getting hurt because of the motion.

CAR reached 91 last May and the next day's 90/69 tied 5/23/77 for mildest minima. The earlier date had 95/69 while the day before tied 6/28/44 for CAR's top temp ever at 96. Tied it again last June 19 in a 95/96/93 heat wave.

Tastes certainly differ from person to person. I loved the food in both Iceland and Norway, but especially the latter. Having visited son and DIL in Japan 17 months earlier readied me for not-fully-cooked fish, but the Norwegians smoke it before serving. The breakfast buffets at the 3 non-AirBnB places we stayed were incredible - bread as good as any I've eaten, a huge assortment of items with many that would be familiar to any American and one can quickly walk past the cold-smoked salmon if one chooses - I didn't.

Iceland won't be cheap but should be better than when we were there in 2017. Current exchange rate for Icelandic Kroner is about 130 to the dollar. It was closer to 100:1 four years ago - springing 3500 ISK for lunch was instructive. As a Maine forester I preferred Norway because it has trees (and the Bergen fish market was wonderful if crowded) - Vikings burnt most of Iceland's forests as firewood 1,000 years ago and the climate isn't friendly for reforestation so other than some spruce patches planted in dooryards, the "forests" are less than impressive. Classic comment from a host on the Golden Circle tour: "If you're lost in an Icelandic forest, stand up!"

Anecdotal data from my Fort Kent days, particularly May 76-79 for contrast: May 7, 1976: 1.5" snow in 45 minutes as I was tilling the garden May 22-24, 1977: 93/93/92 on 22-24. CAR had 96/95/94 those days, hottest 3-day period. May 27-29, 1978: 95/90/92. (CAR "only" 92/89/89) May 1 had 0.6" SN. May 9, 1979: 87°, equally anomalous to the hottest days in May 77, 78, though only a 1-day heat spike. Also had 85+ in 81, 82, 85. Hit 85+ in 8 of 13 Mays (1986-98) in Gardiner, including 92 in 1992, just 1° below our hottest there. I don't think heat spikes in May are a new thing. First year I kept records, 1962 in NNJ, we reached 99 on the 19th.

The passings were sad but the memories are sweet. After Abby passed our dog-loving neighbor gave us a cute little Lab monument, and when the kids/grandkids drove up from SNJ 2 weeks later we had the 5 oldest (#6 had just turned 1) take it down to the gravesite, oldest to youngest with the 3-yo placing it atop the fresh earth. Now the family is doing "puppy transfers" for a very reputable breeder in SC who has buyers from all over the country, including a lot from the DCA-NYC corridor and the kids are nearly central to that area. Instead of having the pups taken directly from mom to be alone with the buyers, they get 4-5 days w/o mom but with siblings - makes it much easier on the little furballs when the new owners get them. Lots of socializing with all our grandkids adds to the fun.

Would love to go back, maybe in late fall, and ride Hurtigruten from Bergen to Tromso or Nordcapp, with time to step off the boat at Lofoten and other stops. One pays for the full trip but can step off for a night or several (at additional expense) and jump aboard the next Hurtigruten ship passing by. Our 2017 trip started at Oslo and visited Bergen and Trondheim (the three cities where my wife's grandparents were born) along with Flam, Voss, Geiranger, Andalsnes (Trollsteigen!) and Alesund.

Had a couple nights there in August of that year on the way to Norway. Reykjavik AirBnB had a 5'x4' photomosaic of the whole island on the LR wall - utterly fascinating. Temp never topped 60 while we were there - normal temps. (And never got to 70 in our 10 days in Norway, with some rain each day there, also not out of the ordinary - Bergen bills itself as Europe's wettest city.)

Totally agree. Abby the Lab passed 4.5 years ago and on Thursday 10/27 she stopped eating and looked terrible, vomiting mucus, so we knew she'd take her final trip to the vet the next day. That Friday morning she was in our "pet the dog" hallway (current rescue Lab lays there too) and already getting stiff. Well, Abby always hated going to the vet. Was the perfect late October day for burying our longtime friend: 40° with heavy rain.

Sprinkle here about 7:30. 0.69" for May, 0.18" over the past 2 weeks. Past 7 days averaged 75/39 with each max from 73 to 77. The nicest mid-May stretch I can recall. First cloudy morning for a while and failed to drop below 50 last night. If we get a lot of sun, could be first 80s here given the high launchpad.