tamarack

That describes my grade school experience, but it was about 65 years ago. Today's classroom is more likely to be tables with groups working together under the teacher's guidance rather than in tidy rows and staring at the chalkboard.

Fortunately I stepped away from recreational alcohol years ago. However, the day after Moderna #2 I became surprisingly fatigued while gardening and pruning the apple trees. Following day, a long and active Easter Sunday, no fatigue beyond the expected. I probably (and thankfully) had it easier than many.

IMO, the vaccine passport potentially becomes problematic when it's used to tell us where we can and cannot go - depending on the breadth of the no-go places. Edit: As noted right above, no one with real authority is moving to a broad-based V.P. requirement - yet.

1.9" from that event. The max of 14° that day was season's coldest. Afternoon of March 2 matched it but 25 at my obs time the previous evening spoiled it. Only 01-02 with coldest mx of 16° failed to record a colder afternoon. (3 others failed to have a max lower than 10 while 5 had subzero highs, 4 at 1° and 3 with 2°, making just over half of our 23 winters notching a max of 2° or colder.) I thought last winter was utter meh, at least until after the equinox. This one had exactly one non-meh event here, the super-Grinch.

We cracked 20" this past February though it was still below our average - 1st 20"+ month since Feb '19 (most recent "snow month" [DJFM] with AN snowfall.) Our current 51.0" is 2nd only to 15-16 (48.2") for low snow and dragged our average down to 88.9" from 90.6". 3rd worst was 05-06 with 52.8" (and 11" max pack, lowest of any winter) followed by 64.8" in 09-10. Doesn't look good or any additional snow thins month though surprises can happen. If the skunk prevails we'll have recorded 0.2" for March-April. Previous low was 21 times higher (4.2") in 09-10.

NYC had 25° at 1 PM with S+ and 5-6 new. Nothing else in their 150+ Aprils is anything like that middle-of-day powder. They've recorded 2 storms with more snow (1875 and 1915) but they were paste bombs.

Another stretch of boring wx in progress, though "boring" is a lot more pleasant in April than in January. Models point to another 2+ weeks with no real warmth or cold and very little precip. After 'watching-paint-dry' wx Dec 26-Jan 1/15 and Feb 28-Mar 19, this one looks to last well into the 2nd half of this month. The current snow season is 22nd of 23 and probably top 3 for frustrating verifications. At this point, seasonal temps and BN rain (e.g. boring) would be okay; what I don't want is early warmth followed inevitably by a May freeze that cooks the apple blossoms.

Those conditions were the main reason half of Maine was never settled, and is currently labeled "unorganized territory". Opening of the Erie Canal plus "1816-and-froze-to-death" encouraged a lot of NNE hardscrabble farmers to head west during the subsequent decades. Edit: After 1:15 in the blueberry patch and pruning apple trees, I felt like it had been 2-3 times that long. 2nd Moderda reaction? Don't know but there's lots of spring left so I quit. Concerning Biden's "optimism", his initial pledge was 100 million vaccinations in his first 100 days. At the current rate of ~3 million/day, we'll be a lot closer to 200 million, with perhaps 80 million fully vaccinated - 30% of adults?

Potential ice jams.

14-15 this morning, might be same or even colder tomorrow. Need to dress warm for the sunrise service. (At least it'll be dry - last year's was a rainout.)

And the rest of NNE isn't far away. Distance from the Confederacy, infertile (or long-farmed) land while Ohio and points west beckoned, relatively few factory jobs that weren't already staffed by PQ immigrants a generation before the Civil War. Moderna #2 crated a bit more soreness at the injection site but so far nothing beyond that.

But no one seemed to flinch when the initial vaccines went to med staff, 1st responders and LTC residents. (As it should have, IMO.) Must be some caveats in CRA-1964 to cover things like that.

Staff at the vaccine site this AM said that laminating the vaccination records card would wreck it, black out the data. Maybe folks here already knew that.

Wife loves having one in the Forester. I wouldn't dream of putting one in the 10-y/o Ranger, but then I don't mind being cold if I know warm is nearby (in distance or time.)

It's still like playing Russian roulette, though the cylinder has room for 100 bullets rather than 6. Had Moderna #2 about 8:45 this morning. Not even soreness at the stick site yet, though this strange lump is rising out of the middle of my skull.

Last evening's flurry brought a 0.1" dusting, meaning April has already matched the March total. March data: Avg temp: 30.1 2.8 AN Avg max: 42.4 3.9 AN Highest was 62 on 3/23 Over our 23 years here March has reached 60+ in 6. Avg min: 17.9 1.7 AN Lowest was -2 on 3/7 Only March 2010 (Min was 11) failed to have a subzero morning. Precip: 1.53" exactly 2" BN Wettest day was 0.82 on the 27th "Snow": Had 0.1" of slushy "dusting" on the 13th. At month's end the season total was 50.9", 32.8" BN. Pack was 19" on the 1st and was still 18" on the 9th when a core yielded 6.25" LE The 3/26 TS that blew apart a fir near the house was just the 3rd one in March and 1st since 2009.

AFAIK I've never had the flu. In 1993 I caught something that made me very fatigued on day 1 and achy all over on day 2, but symptoms gone by day 3 and I think flu lasts longer than that. The past 10-15 years I've gotten the flu shot almost every year - with age comes caution (usually) - and get Moderna #2 tomorrow morning. Will report on horn growth.

Even if 95% were to be the right number, 200 million vaccinated people in the US would mean about 10 million getting the disease. Surely in those millions there are some who probably should be in hospital before being infected and some just a hair's width from death, and COVID would just be the final straw (or dust mote) to push them over the edge. Followed by screaming headlines.

Farmers have been plowing some of their fields near the Sandy River, first I've seen it this early. Even in 2012 they didn't plow in March. Thin pack and little rain.

I don't, and we only got either the weak event a few hours ahead or the pre-bombing of the big system - 7.5" on about 18 hr of light-moderate SN, also the longest commute on my 45 miles Farmington to Gardiner. Your pics from the height of that event are among my favorite snow scenes.

That would be good. I think central Maine north of the 12/17 death band did worse compared to average than anywhere else in the Northeast. Guess it was our turn.

Thanks. Moderates had generally been good for Maine except for 1999-00, and 20-21 is now a 2nd stinker. Strong la ninas have generally been poor for here.

Was this winter a moderate la nina or strong? (I haven't kept track.)

Wife's Moderna #1 caused significant soreness after yesterday's shot, much better this morning.

Flood watch for most of CAR's forecast area. GYX is watching. Took a closer look at the near-road trees. 2 large fir (14" dia/70-75' tall) down or on the way - hung on another tree - plus a smaller fir also hung. The pine fork that broke was 55' long and been about 60' up the tree, total tree height 115'. Fairly good 1st-year conelet crop so maybe the other fork (assuming a SE wind doesn't take it down) and the other similar-size pines may have a nice cone crop this year. When things get less squishy I'll look at some big-fir areas away from the road to see what else is horizontal.