tamarack

Meh. They never make it to the foothills.

"Favored" causes of falling, for me: --Stepping on a wet/slippery stick so that foot slides quickly toward the other. timberrr! --Hooking a stick with toe or instep such that its other end gets stuck in the ground and thus rotates that foot upward - good for faceplants, especially when I'm in a hurry. Raining in Augusta, but have seen about 5 nickel-size flakes sailing down.

Necessary for sure. After looking at my MRI, my PCP said one wrong fall could mean quadriplegia, and the neurosurgeon added that the stenosis was probably high enough to affect breathing. Post-op I regained 80-90% of strength and maybe 70% of balance - still have to be careful walking thru the woods. At least the titanium has yet to trigger airport security.

Yup. Had my 1st (and worst) back spasm about 39 years ago and still get occasional twinges. That also stemmed from a collision, in our case a pickup vs. a fully-loaded log truck, with predictable results. My non-displaced leg fracture led to a month with a walking cast - one leg 3" longer than the other - punctuated by the muscle spasm a couple days before the cast came off. (And 30 years later when a herniated disc in my neck led to my barely being able to walk or tie my shoes, I got a plate and 4 screws to fix things. My neurosurgeon and I both trace the spinal stenosis back to that crash. My fusion surgery was very similar to that done on Peyton Manning, so the only differences between us were 30 years and $100+ million.)

The cold surely relaxed after that amazing 40 days (from 11/22 thru 12/31 [7 AM obs times] averaged -15.0 at Farmington), but at my (then) home in Gardiner the warm-up still allowed for 51.5" of Jan-Feb snow (30% above avg) and a 5" surprise at the end of March. At least it wasn't like the current event, RA at 33 with trace ZR at home and perhaps 0.15" accretion at 800' five miles to my south on Mile Hill.

My snowiest winter (07-08) south of Fort Kent reached 12" just once, 12.5" on Jan. 1-2, with only the Dec. 3-4 storm reaching double digits. That winter my biggest storm was only 8.8% of total snowfall, whereas 4 years earlier the 24" on Dec. 6-7, 2003 was 33.0% of that winter's snow. Add the 13" a week-plus later and over 50% of the snow came by 12/15. For ORH, since 1950, there have been 80 events of 12"+....but obviously some winters go without one. So in those 69 winters, 44 of them had at least one 12"+ event. Farmington's 126-year POR shows 147 events of 12"+, which is an average of 1.17 per year, and at least one in 83 winters, for 66%. My 21 winters have featured 27 such storms with at least one in 14, for averages of 1.24/winter and 67% of winters with one or more. For those same 21 winters, Farmington has recorded 27 storms of 12"+ (1.29/yr) and also 14 with at least one, though they missed in 07-08 (only 11.3" on Jan. 1-2) while having 2 last winter while I topped out with 11.7" on Jan. 19-20. And BOS has 4, two of 2 feet+, 2 of 16 inches from 1/22/15-2/28/15. Think about that. When I think about that, it's with some frustration. Storm #1 dumped 20" of 9:1 sand at single-digit temps at home in the best January storm to hit my then-BY in my lifetime. Unfortunately we were in SNJ at the time where we got to watch their 1.5" disappear in about 3 hours. Got to shovel/snow-blow it all when we got home about 12 hours after final flakes, however. Storm #2 was 7.5" with most coming at -5 or colder, #3 brought 4.6" from the storm's northern fringe and #4 is known by some at GYX as the V-Day massacre because the massive blizzard-warned event fled eastward, dropping 1.5" at home and 25" in Machias.

Only time I saw 4 storms of 12+ was that 1960-61 bonanza in NNJ, one each in DJFM. Closest since then was 1981-82 in Fort Kent, with 11.3" as 4th best. Even 3 has been rare, 3X in 46 Maine winters, all at my present location, 00-01, 16-17, 17-18. Then there's 05-06 when my top 4 were 5.9, 4.3, 4.3, 4.0.

That's often true. We had 4 storms of 20"+ in NNJ, all during the period 3/56 thru 2/61. Only 3 in 10 Fort Kent winters, neither BGR (3 years) nor Gardiner (13 years) came close, while I've measured 6 such storms here in the foothills going into winter #22, plus a 19.9" event in March 2018.

Only -7.8 at my place, but that includes the +11 on the 1st. Since then we've been -9.0.

I've yet to experience even a pair of 2-footers in the same winter, much less 3. My biggest for winter's 3rd best snowfall was 18", the December entry in 1960-61's snowfest. That year was one of only 2 (2016-17 being the other) that had even 2 with 20"+.

Love this image. Among other things, it really shows well the Jersey pine barrens. Cloudy with a raw wind in Augusta while at 10 AM PWM was reporting light rain and 31 - lovely. Yesterday's 29/0 made it 2 zero-or-below mornings earlier than getting even one in any of my other 46 Novembers in Maine. And while I have no doubts about Island Pond's low of -11, that 39° max seems a bit high. I had full sun all day yesterday, and should not have been 10° cooler.

Stayed a couple degrees above zero here - wind was light but still moving at 10 last night, so less time after the inversion sets up. Walking in the woods yesterday was explosively noisy as the Friday "thaw" followed by an 8F low produced a solid crust, and the leaves were nice and crunchy underneath. Every deer within a half mile could probably hear me.

Jeez, below 0 already? Earliest here by 8 days, and 2nd year in a row to advance the below-zero threshold. (T-Day last year was far more uncomfortable and anomalous.) The 14th is even 5 days ahead of my earliest subzero in Ft. Kent, though we had only 10 years there and this is November #22 here.

Today's low was about 20, a slight change from yesterday's -2. Last 2 days departures were -22 and -23, month running -7.

Almost exactly the same temps here (had 19/6), though my max-min instrument is far too small to have tenths discernable. That mean of 12.5 is 22° BN, while last year's T-Day was 11/-3 for 27° BN. Zero or a bit cooler this morning before the clouds arrived.

Near zero or slightly below at home, though temp bumped up 3° between 5 and 6 AM as clouds arrived. Yesterday's 19/6 was 22° BN and that max was 24 BN.

Like probably most hunters, I shoot the first deer dumb enough to give me the opportunity. I've passed up fawns, but never an adult (assuming I have an any-deer permit.) Unfortunately, humans have changed ecosystems so "natural selection" has become unnatural. I'm not sure cougars/wolves would be a solution even if society would allow, as they aren't as people-adaptable as coyotes, and would probably stay mostly out of the southern Maine woods where the deer numbers and related issues are greatest. The other problem in cold and snowy climates is that, if there's 100 deer after the hunting seasons and only enough food for 70, it's not as if 30 stop eating on December 1st. Instead, they all eat for 70% of winter and then comes the crunch. In northern Maine, the back-to-back severe winters of 2007-08 and 2008-09 may have killed over half the deer. (I've read that the 1960-61 winter with its 40-50" pack in NNJ killed 1/2 to 2/3 of the deer there.) And losing the deer is bad enough; the damage to the forest may be worse and longer lasting. When the PA Bureau of Forestry, managers of about 2 million acres of state land, underwent auditing for certification of forest sustainability, they nearly failed and essentially were given a "probationary" certificate. The issue was deer herbivory that threatened the sustainability of those forests by eating most of the young trees, especially the most valuable species like oaks, maples and black cherry.

As with all wildlife, something will exert population control. For deer, I'd rather it be firearms than fenders. Augusta temp holding at 23 thru 2 PM. Given CAA, may not go any warmer, certainly no more than 1-2F if any.

I've killed 3 with vehicles this time of year. #1 was 11/12/96 just south of MHT as I was taking 4 HHS students back to school in Dublin, NH. Had my foot on the way toward the brake (light ahead turned yellow) when deer!-thud-gone, in no more time than it takes to read those 3 words. Small deer, probably that spring's fawn, yet $2,900 damage to our Subaru. No doubt dead but 150 miles from home, pitch dark and water running everywhere from the morning's SE gale/deluge. #2 came on a late October Sunday morning (Maine firearms season opening the following Saturday) in 2008 when a 6-8 pt buck rammed the side of our Outback at speed, $1,900 this time. Neighbor with scanner called the police and got permission to look for it, found it dead about 500' from point of impact. #3 was 6 years later and maybe 2 miles south of #2 on the same road, evening of last Sunday in November, day after the firearms season closed. Doe popped out in front, I slowed to about 15 but hit broadside, shattering the plastic grill into dozens of shards - $1,600 this go-round. Pickup was drivable and the deer ran into the woods. The State trooper who came to the house (no cell, so had to call from home) said I could have the critter if I could find it, so I went back the next morning. Easy to track in 4-5" SN left from the 13" dump 4 days earlier, found a nice doe with small velvet-covered antlers about 500' from the road. Pprobably ended up with 90% of the meat, the rest being bloodshot (impact damage) and discarded by the butcher. Even with our collision insurance, the deductible made it the most costly deer meat ever to reach our freezer. (Note: That's the 3rd hairy-horned doe I've seen. Shot one on T18R12 NW of Allagash Village in 1982 - gamiest deer we've eaten, though the 2014 roadkill tasted just fine - and in 1983 a co-worker bagged one about 15 miles SW from where mine fell.) Still blowing hard in Augusta, struggling to get much past 20.

Farmington's coldest max during the 1st half of November is 27, reached 5 different times on the 14th/15th. Odds look good for 25 or colder today. The bar drops to 23 on the 16th, set in 1967, to 20 on the 21st in 1896, and last year's high of 12 on the 22nd tied 11/28/78 for the month's coldest max.

Storm total was 4.0" with the 0.8" of afternoon fluff. Total LE was 0.54" with my best estimate that 0.46" was frozen, the rest ZR as the temp never went above 28 during the event. Morning low at home was about 8F and with winds about 15G25 that's WCI near -10. If the winds quit and clouds delay, will make a run at zero tonight. Had a low of 2F on the 15th last year, and the -3 a week later on T-Day is my earliest at zero or below.

That anecdote makes me recall a spill during my learn-to-parallel ski week at the old Glen Ellen back in 1971. It was my final run (also after 4 PM) on Thursday, on an intermediate trail named Black Watch. My goggles had been fogging completely in the cold (single digit max) so I would ski without them, stopping halfway down to let my eyes clear. On that run, as I went into the stop an edge caught and somehow I recovered but was then going even faster. tried again, same story and probably the fastest I've ever gone on skis. 3rd time was the "charm" - really caught the edge and went airborne. The mind races at times like that, and I had time to think in mid-air "glad it's near the end of my ski week before I wreck." Landed on my head (snow was soft) and did the eggbeater thing. One ski failed to release and my knee was painful but skiable. Surprisingly, the pain was gone the next morning.

Engine heaters, preferably the ones installed in the heater hose, not the less efficient ones that work thru the dipstick. In Fort Kent, the Northern Door motel has outlets so guests can plug in and have their vehicles start in the morning. We had a VW Beetle when we lived there - air-cooled engine doesn't offer a heater hose, so I made a small triangular box, lined it with foil and put a "Y" fixture with a couple 100-watt bulbs under the oilpan. Worked great until the night that windblown snow hit the hot bulbs and they shattered.

Moderate snow here in Augusta after 1/2 hour of non-accumulating light stuff. Probably won't last long nor pile up more than a few tenths, but nice to watch.

That's even optimistic. Some years back I saw that Yakutsk, a city of about half a million next to Lake Baikal, had a January average temp of -45F.