tamarack

True. Average temps peak at 76/56 in late month.

We live in those few yards of transpirationally enhanced air next to the ground and feel its effects. Forecasters need to look at the miles of air above that, and for dews those ASOS reading probably better reflect the airmass. Yesterday and today were both supposed to clear in late morning. Yesterday never did clear and today the clouds were gone by 8 :30 and except for some teeny puffs have stayed away. Average the two and the forecast was dead on in MBY. Currently 80/60 (dew extrapolated from nearby station) - we take in mid July, a bit sticky right now because we hadn't seen dews in the 50s yet this season.

After a good start in November - AN snow and coldest Novie of 22 here - met winter was a solid and uninspiring D, no significant storms, no sustained cold (2-3 days at most, usually with day-1 max spoiled by cheap high from the evening before) and despite the AN length of continuous snow cover, SDDs and max depth were well below average. The 3 spring storms, 10.3" in March, 8.5" in April and 3.2" in May, dragged a D/D+ up to a C- as final snow totaled 94% of average. Until the equinox it was the most meh winter in memory, not memorably awful enough to rank with 15-16 or 05-06 and with little of interest,

Mostly cloudy here today with showers of black flies. Sun popped out about 11:30 and we figured the clouds were on the way out but was not to be. Sun has tried about a dozen times since but never more than 2-3 minutes. Low-mid 60s so nice working conditions despite the blood donations.

Surprised by clouds this morning after 6 sunny days in a row - can't recall last time we went 6-for-6. For the 33 days 4/15 thru 5/17, 31 were BN with only 5/2-3 breaking the streak. Yesterday's 65/29 was -8 and May to date is -3.2. P&C has Wed-Thurs 15-20 AN which would cut that -3.2 in half, but our minima will likely undercut that forecast significantly.

Woodstove had 2 days rest but needed a fire this AM, 30-31 outside and 64 inside. Might frost again tomorrow morning but that should be it for the season. Also not impossible that we go from frost to 90 in 2 days.

Blue lip special. When kids are having fun they don't feel the cold. (or heat) Fed the black flies while in the garden. They were tolerable while I ran the tiller but as soon as the motor stopped the flies dove in. Only planted carrots and arugula as we'll probably be well down in the 30s tomorrow and Monday mornings.

Dews low 20s N. Maine (19 at FVE) and temps stalled near 60 statewide. After 81/35 and 84/39 last 2 days, maybe light frost tomorrow morning if we decouple soon enough, and another frost shot Monday. GFS has AUG touching 90 next Wednesday - unlikely but not impossible.

Looks like SDDs at the stake will finish pretty close to the average. Here SDDs were 20% below avg, makes up a bit for 18-19 which had 91% AN. Leaf out here is near 100% on aspen, 80% on beech-birch-maple, 20% or less on oak and ash. Typical species sequence and probably near the average dates thanks to huge catch-up wx.

Black flies' biting season lasts 2-3 weeks where I live and probably in Randolph, though when I was in N. Maine it was 4-5 weeks. Mosquitos rule the shade and evenings until frost and deerflies rule in the sun. The skeeters are dainty, sipping blood thru a straw, while black flies scrape enough to get some blood to lap up. Deerfly bites feel as though they've carved off a steak and flown away with it. I've seen deerflies pacing vehicles going 20 mph, waiting for me to get out. However, I've found that if one stands still he deerflies lose interest. Maybe they key on movement, like T-Rex in Jurassic Park. Some resemblance in the dental equipment as well. Was surprised to see the "angry hornets" comment, as I grew up in the mid-Atlantic (NNJ) and seemed to find some yellowjackets (the most aggressive of the native social wasps) every summer, usually with some pain involved. Pretty big mosquitos in the NNJ woods, too, but no blackflies and few deerflies - especially when compared to the many dozen I would attract while working in the St. John/Allagash forests. Those beasts would be accompanied by flies similar to slightly downsized houseflies - non-biting critters I called sweat-lickers. Couple hundred insects buzzing around and banging into me as I walked thru the woods, and I couldn't tell which ones were carrying switchblades. The deerflies loved to dive for the whorl in one's hair, and as soon as I smacked one there all his friends come for the funeral, and of course wanted a meal while they were there. Had 81/35 yesterday and back down to low 40s this morning before another 40+ leap. That was my 1st 80+ since July 30, as August topped out at only 79 and Sept in the mid 70s. Went 296 days w/o seeing an 80-degree max.

At 4 PM, MHT 82/19 and CON 81/18, both with RH 9%. Bloody nose wx.

At 2 PM, IZG and all 6 hourly reporting (by GYX) stations from 3B1 to FVE have RH in the upper teens. Breezy too with red flag warnings, though the evergreen stands and north slopes in NW Maine still have significant snow.

Took until yesterday to reach 70 and now we've hit 80. Perfect setup for NNE heat - west winds so low humidity (20%) and leaves only half developed, thus little shade or transpirational cooling. Barely anything beyond sticks in northern Maine. 43 years ago tomorrow, CAR tied its all time hottest with 96, followed the next 2 days with 95 and 94, their hottest 3 day stretch on record. (Of course, I chose to add insulation to the attic of our tiny 2-story that 96 day. Fortunately I was done by 11:30 AM while the attic hadn't yet passed 140 [estimate only, but it was wicked hot].) Edit: That 80 is up from this morning's 35, nice range.

Always good to welcome new members, especially ones offering such a well thought out intro. Hey, Mainiacs! How about some folks from the 85% of the state lying north and east of my location? (Though Pit 2 is slightly east of me.)

Hit 71 yesterday for season's 1st at 70+, but the low of 31 meant a mean that was 2° BN. To finish May AN here highs would need to average upper 70s today thru 5/31. We'll have some days like that but also some in the 60s. Prob finish the month about -2. Colder in some SNE spots this morning than my 35 or so here - looking at another 40° diurnal span today.

That high-pitched whine is a major sleep-depriver. Isn't it amazing how a little critter that weighs less than 0.1 gram can terrorize an adult camper that weighs more than a million times as much? Light frost this morning, low was 30-31. (Avg date here for last frost is 5/24.) Shooting for 40° diurnal range.

Never had black flies in NNJ, but there were some mosquitos that could carry off small pets.

If black flies can breed in it, brook trout can live in it. (And those trout begin to bite seriously about the same time as the black flies do the same.)

Way back when I was at forestry summer camp near Princeton, Maine, we were building a timber bridge for a logging road and the black flies were taking full advantage of all the fresh meat - about 25 of us at the site. Mid-afternoon a large squadron of dragonflies arrived and 10 minutes later, not a black fly in sight. With one exception, I've found black flies don't like hot and sunny wx - temp gets much over 80 and they abandon the field to the deerflies. (Those latter beasts are impervious to heat, not surprising as they come from the underworld.) The exception was June of 1996 in northern Maine, temp low 90s, and even 500' from shore in a canoe I was getting pounded - maybe too little airspace over land for that huge population. A friend with a bug-netted hat was having trouble seeing clearly due to so many hungry flies crawling on the netting. Thru Sunday the flies were out but not yet biting - any day now. However, the black fly season here is about 2 weeks, maybe a third as long as where I lived in Fort Kent. But as already posted, the deerflies are on patrol from early June thru mid September. Nice to have upper 60s yesterday rather than the low 50s with a 2" dousing that was being forecast 3 days earlier. Yesterday's 68/38 was 1° AN, a modest departure but my first AN day since May 3 and only the 3rd since April 14. Hasn't been hugely BN - 4/15 thru 5/17 averaged -5 and only 4 days in that period reached double digits BN. Looks to be some serious AN late week.

Central Park recorded 4.8" (all in Dec,Jan) - I had not heard of Atlanta getting much. Philly had .3" on the season. About what our snow-loving grandkids saw 25 miles SSE from PHL Only time they saw white ground for more than a few minutes was when they visited us over Thanksgiving. Finished with 85.1", 94% of average, as springtime snow kept it from ratter status. 31% of snowfall came after the equinox, and only 06-07 had a higher %, thanks to the record-crushing April. 00-01 had more spring snowfall but had already passed 100" by 3/21. This was my only snow season in which the 2 biggest events came in springtime.

Maples stating to leaf out but oak and ash buds are just swelling a bit, about average timing for those two.

Scads of blackflies swarming around me as I did some garden work - spreading leaves and last spring's cow dressing. Tilling comes next week as hat's when planting starts and I don't want the weeds to get even a week's head start. Bugs are just checking out the menu at present, but still good at flying into eyes and ears. Glad there was a decent breeze, most of the time. Buds breaking on the 3 apple trees but only the Empire (least productive of the 3) shows much for flower buds. Could not see any on the Haralred, but that tree was loaded last year and even moreso the year before - time for a rest.

No wind, no thunder but 0.73" in 2.5 hours - first "summer-character" event of the season though we were too far north for true summer action.

I'd go with 1969 as the Memorial Day scorcher, with NYC hitting 97 on either 30th or 31st (can't recall which), tied with 1987 for 2nd warmest. The 99 in 1962 came on the 19th and fortunately was modest dews (50s to low 60s?) When the 1 PM NYC temp of 89 became 95 an hour later my friend and I forgot about playing baseball and sought some shade. And responding to Will's post about Boston's 2 record lows this month, 1st time since 1967 - that month also had some cool afternoons. 5/25 was a northeast storm that held NYC to a high of 46, about 30F BN, and with winds strong enough to fell newly leafed-out trees at my NNJ workplace. We'd had 3" of snow on 4/27 that year, and co-workers on a fishing trip past Towanda, PA had an inch of sleet on the 1st Saturday of May.

I'd agree if "summer" meant near continuous warmth with high dews. For temps only I can recall some very summery stretches, upper 90s in 1962 and '69 (NNJ) and 1977 in Ft. Kent when CAR highs for May 22-24 were 96*, 95, 94. Looks to me like the last week of the month may have some +10 days, which at my place would be 80/50 or some such combo. *That's tied with June 1944 for CAR's hottest on record. Mid 20s this morning - last freeze of the season?