tamarack

IIRC, blue ash has shown significant tolerance for EAB, though far less than total tolerance - maybe 50% of trees.

Essentially all of the climate models show increased precip for the eastern US, and for colder climates like NNE that may mean increased snowfall, for a while at least, and many climo models predict just that. Not sure of the wx mechanisms that would give that result but it's been happening for most stations in the Northeast this century. If an additional 5% of winter precip is unfrozen while there's 10% greater overall winter precip, should equal more snow on average. Snowfall in the new norms benefit from the awful '80s falling off the back end. I had the same concerns for early growth/late frost - happened in 1999 and even worse 11 years later so the time sequence points to 2021. However, after a cherrypicked 27 days (3/20-4/15) had temps +7.4, the following 24 days thru yesterday were a teeny bit (0.07°) AN and today may drive it a teeny bit under. We're perhaps a week ahead of average for leaf-out progress but things were 2 weeks ahead in mid April. Beware the blackflies - they've been out checking the menu for a few days now and will have their knives and forks ready later this week when temps run mid 60s or above. Edit: Though snowfall here has been a bit AN since 2000 (though this past season means a teeny bit AN) recent seasons have had decreasing snow/rain ratios. Lowest 5 winters here (with snowfall and rank among 23 winters): 20-21: 7.08 52.4" 22nd 19-20: 8.32 85.1" 12th 18-19: 8.41 109.2" 5th 09-10: 8.72 64.8" 20th 16-17: 9.23 125.3" 3rd This past season is the real outlier and helped earn it an F. The 5 highest ratio winters span 11.09 to 11.76 and the overall average is 10.22.

I've read reports that a fraction - not sure how significant - of white ash is tolerant of EAB. It's by far the most abundant ash in Maine so that would be good news if the fraction is more than a couple percent. Unfortunately, there's apparently little/no such tolerance in brown ash.

I've read $80 million too, but a quick search took the middle road. (And I need to proofread more thoroughly.)

Suits me just fine. Yesterday's 27 might've caused some damage if we'd had a bunch of earlier days in the 70s. White ash, the most vulnerable to having new shoots fried, hasn't fully broken buds yet.

No idea whether the format will arrive as I now see it, or all scrambled. Worth noting is that thru August 1966 the obs sites (moved a few times) were all in town on relatively level ground. In Sept that year the obs moved to the present site 1.5 miles to the north, in a residential area along Rt 4, on a sidehill with fields below and woods above, though the instrument site is flat. Other than the warm mid-20th and a slight warming in the past 2 decades, not much to see. Only 2 years, 1917 and 1924, failed to reach 60 in March, 70 in April or 80 in May. WARM SPRING DAYS FARMINGTON, MAINE CO-OP March Years 60-64 Years 65-69 Years 70-74 Years 75+ Years Per. Tot. Years Zero years 93-00 8 2 2 1 1 1 1 0 0 4 2 6 all but 93,94 01-10 10 10 6 1 1 2 1 1 1 14 6 4 01,06,08,09 1913 msg 11-20 9 11 3 1 1 2 1 0 0 14 3 6 11,12,14,15,18,19 21-30 10 5 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 6 4 6 23,24,26,28-30 31-40 10 3 2 0 0 1 1 0 0 4 2 8 all but 36,38 41-50 10 13 4 2 2 1 1 2 2 18 5 5 41-44,47 51-60 10 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 9 all but 53 1970 msg 61-70 9 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 2 7 61,64-69 71-80 10 7 4 1 1 1 1 0 0 9 5 5 71,72,75,78,80 81-90 10 2 2 6 5 3 2 0 0 11 6 4 82-84,88 91-00 10 6 5 3 2 2 1 0 0 11 5 5 92,94-97 01-10 10 7 4 1 1 1 1 0 0 9 4 6 01,03-05,08,09 11-20 10 7 3 0 0 1 1 4 1 12 3 7 13-15,17-20 126 74 31.75% 19 13.49% 15 8.73% 7 3.17% 115 38.10% 61.90% Total Total % 1+ Total % 1+ Total % 1+ Total % 1+ Total % 1+ % zero Average per decade 5.69 1.46 1.15 0.54 8.85 APRIL Years 70-74 Years 75-79 Years 80-84 Years 85+ Years Per. Tot. Years Zero years 93-00 8 13 6 11 5 5 4 2 2 31 6 2 93,98 01-10 10 4 3 7 6 1 1 0 0 12 7 3 04,06,09 11-20 10 12 7 5 5 6 3 1 1 24 9 1 1917 21-30 10 15 7 6 5 1 1 3 2 25 8 2 24, 26 31-40 10 16 8 7 5 4 3 2 1 29 9 1 1939 41-50 10 16 8 8 4 4 3 3 2 31 8 2 44, 50 51-60 10 12 7 4 2 1 1 0 0 17 7 3 53,56,60 61-70 10 4 3 1 1 2 2 0 0 7 4 6 61,63,65-67,69 71-80 10 10 5 7 3 2 1 2 1 21 5 5 71,72,75,78,80 81-90 10 12 6 10 5 1 1 1 1 24 8 2 88, 89 91-00 10 10 4 1 1 1 1 0 0 12 6 4 93,95,97,99 01-10 10 15 8 9 7 5 4 2 1 31 10 0 11-20 10 13 8 6 2 1 1 0 0 20 8 2 14,20 128 152 62.50% 82 39.84% 34 20.31% 16 8.59% 284 74.22% 25.78% Total Total % 1+ Total % 1+ Total % 1+ Total % 1+ Total % 1+ % zero Average per decade 11.69 6.31 2.62 1.23 21.85 MAY Years 80-84 Years 85-89 Years 90-94 Years 95+ Years Per. Tot. Years Zero years 93-00 8 22 8 13 5 8 4 2 1 45 8 0 1909 msg 01-10 9 21 8 6 4 1 1 0 0 28 9 0 11-20 10 27 8 10 5 5 2 1 1 43 9 1 1917 21-30 10 18 6 8 3 5 3 1 1 32 7 3 24,25,27 31-40 10 27 10 24 8 3 1 2 2 56 10 0 41-50 10 31 9 13 7 3 2 0 0 47 9 1 1945 51-60 10 30 10 14 6 1 1 0 0 45 10 10 61-70 10 19 8 7 5 2 1 1 1 29 9 1 1967 71-80 10 9 6 10 6 6 4 1 1 26 9 1 1973 81-90 10 21 9 6 5 0 0 0 0 27 9 1 1983 91-00 10 11 6 6 4 3 1 0 0 20 7 3 95,97,00 01-10 10 14 7 10 6 3 3 0 0 27 8 2 05, 08 11-20 10 18 8 11 5 2 2 0 0 31 8 2 14, 19 127 268 81.10% 138 54.33% 42 19.69% 8 5.51% 456 88.19% 19.69% Total Total % 1+ Total % 1+ Total % 1+ Total % 1+ Total % 1+ % zero Average per decade 20.62 10.62 3.23 0.62 35.08

Especially for snowfall. Trading 1981-90 for 2011-20 made a huge difference.

That would mean about 3,000 per day between now and then, or 4-5 times the current rate. Either there's a quarter million unreported deaths out there or folks expect a 5th wave. Sell.

That's more likely if sticking to paved roads, but when I've been driving on graveled logging roads I've had that same horrendous squeal that stops when braking, and in those cases it was a pebble getting caught between the rotor and its shield. (This was ~40 years ago. I don't know if rotor shields are still used.)

My wife and I avoided that due to considerate parents. We each have 2 siblings and the respective wills when last surviving parent passed both stipulated 1/3 each. My mom and (especially) dad were barely short of hoarders, so we took some good advice and had an estate appraiser come and set values on all the tangible items. (My dad had more than 80 guns and a notebook with careful values assigned to each; the appraiser took a look and went by the book.) My FIL had 99% of net worth in liquid assets, stocks and mutual funds, so no appraiser needed. On the appraiser's recommendation we had an estate auction, about 6 months after dad passed and after each sibling indicated things they wished to set against their third. (I needed a vehicle, brothers didn't, so I got dad's '92 Ranger with 6k miles and drove it for 13 years.) On auction day we came over the hill near the house and thought the circus had come to town - three-pole tent on the front lawn, food wagon set up in the driveway, scads of folding chairs. Highest number winning a bid was 154. Vert entertaining, with some items going for a song and some bringing outrageous bids - typical for such things, I guess. All the unclaimed long guns were included (air rifles drew stronger bidding than firearms, seemed odd) but the auctioneer didn't do handguns due to the varying state and municipal regs.

From the wiki article on 1983 (emphasis mine): The majority of the storm damage was from storm surge and wind. Damage was estimated at $308 million, the equivalent of $5.1 billion adjusted for inflation in 2016 dollars, making it among the most costly hurricanes to strike the U.S. mainland.[22] It is estimated that, if an identical hurricane had struck in 2005, it would have caused $39.2 billion in damage due to changes in population and infrastructure.[23] Certainly the number and impact of events have been greatly affected by climate change, but some of the increase in gigabuck disasters might be due to the above. Sandy affected considerably more area than 1938, but looking at pics and reading about the earlier storm makes the inflation-adjusted cost differences between the two storms hard to believe. (From Google: Sandy's damage totaled $70 BB in 2012 dollars, perhaps 15 times more than 1938.)

ORH is nearly 700' higher and the Merrimac Valley funnels warm air toward CON.

Can recall 86° with 85% rh at 11 PM when I was at early-season football practice at JHU. Mornings weren't much better - made one really eager to put on the pads. Baltimore-area locals liked "Armpit of the East" as their city's title - covered both climate and the geography of Chesapeake Bay. To be fair, Baltimore is also the farthest south I've lived, and its climate is a lot different than at a mostly forested community in the hills of NNJ. We rarely saw 70+ minima where I grew up.

Most gaggingly humid place I've ever lived, and Hopkins is at the 2900 block, well north of downtown. Also saw the biggest rats imaginable down closer to city center - big as a Guinea pig, looked like they would be a match for the average cat.

Same principle for pickups, or why Ford dropped the old Ranger and then replaced it with a new Ranger that's probably bigger than a 2000 model F-150. Way bigger mark-ups.

That's logical, but often when the town leaders see a 15% increase in town-wide assessment, they immediately plan to spend 15% more dollars.

At 2,230' in the southern Greens, it probably starts with a crooked number. He should have snow comparable to J.Spin in NVT (150" avg last 10 years) and Alex in Coos County (170" in his 4 years on the snow table.) A season with <90% of average does well to earn a C.

If one is planning to be at church by 9 AM, cranking the snowblower at 7 may be necessary. On 12/7/03 we woke up to 24" of powder, 6-8" taller than the intake of our machine so I had to make 2 passes to clear enough to get the car (Subaru Loyale) up the driveway. Other than that necessity I don't care to run machinery on Sundays. Helps my conscience that we're 500' from the nearest neighbor, but even in Gardiner with houses <100' away on both sides we'd blow out the driveway for getting to church or work. Of course, our neighbor to the left would be out there ahead of us - he never wanted to allow the snow to be more than about 2" on his driveway - would clear multiple times. Clearing snow so one can get to a normal scheduled destination seems different than blowing leaves off the lawn at sunrise.

Lot of breweries in that area. Better limit tasting to shot glass size or one would be visited the last few in a shopping cart.

Also a solid F here. Temp was AN for every month Nov-April, a first in my 23 years here. One of the few winters that failed to get down to -20. 12/25 was the greatest positive departure for any date, also had December's biggest one-day rain, obliterating the modest pack. Several total-boredom stretches - AN temps with no interesting wx of any kind. Snowfall of 52.5" was 3 feet BN and with 05-06 (52.8") and 15-16 (48.2") is in another universe compared to the other 20 winters. Next lowest snowfall was 64.0" in 09-10. After the 9.5" on Feb 2 there were no events greater than 3" despite what seemed to be 2-3 decent chances per week the rest of the month. March totaled a miniscule 0.1". It was the lowest March snowfall in 75 years at the Farmington co-op.

None of that stuff in the one that closed in Farmington, just cheap junky stuff; haven't been to its still-open relative there. Nor have I entered the one that recently opened in our huge town of 1,500. I prefer to shop 3/4 miles west at the Sandy River farm Supply - offers decent pizza and Italians, modest assortment of packaged food and drink, chainsaw files, cord/rope of all sizes, the broadest assortment of small hardware I've seen anywhere - about 15 feet wide and 4 feet tall filled with hundreds of small shelves. Kind of a throwback and does a good business I doubt the Dollar Store up the street will have any impact though the DD next to it might, as SRFS sells a lot of Carrabassett Coffee and local-made donuts..

Event total 1.56". Yesterday was ratty 40s but we needed the rain. April numbers: Avg. Max: 56.3 +4.3 Warmest: 76 on the 10th Avg. Min: 31.9 +3.4 Coldest: 13 on the 3rd Avg. Mean: 44.1 +3.85 Precip: 4.22" +0.12 Biggest event: 1.48" on 4/30 Snow: 1.4" -3.5" Had 0.7" on both 14 and 15, 1" cover on the 14th. November thru April have all been AN temps, averaging +3.3.

Semantics. No one in this discussion is really incorrect. As usual, Northern red oak (pretty sure the upper one is that) is the earliest to leaf out and thus has the bigger leaves. Can't tell what the bottom one is, beyond it's being in the red oak group - points on the tip of lobes. Shade leaves of Northern red? Black? Pin? Small leaves on maples, black cherry, aspen. Buds beginning to break on oak, ash is still asleep. Our butternuts all succumbed to the anthracnose disease, otherwise they would be the last on our woodlot to break bud, almost as late as black locust. One of our cloudiest Aprils though nearly 4° temps. This after a March with the most sun by far of any month here in 23 years.

Ask an engineer if the glass is half full or half empty and the answer will be "The glass is twice as big as it needs to be." Referring back to that county startups table - Cumberland County, Maine? The richest county in the state? Androscoggin (Dryslot) might tell a different story and Franklin even more different.

I see "leaf out" as a process but many see it as being fully leafed out and I'm not going to call them wrong. And the oak buds here are swelling but not broken yet. I hope we get enough cool wx to slow the leaf out process, lest the inevitable May freeze - average May coldest after 22 years is 24.8, monthly lows ranging from 21 to 28.