tamarack

At my foothills location I feel put upon if more than 2 deerflies are circling. When I worked in the Allagash-St. John woods, there would be dozens. I don't like wearing a hat in the woods when it's hot, and those tiny T-Rexes would home in on the whorl and it's low hair density. Squash one there and 10 more would come to the funeral, expecting a meal. My un-favoritest experience with greenheads came at Tuckerton, NJ, about 15 miles north from ACY. We'd fish on great Bay and come in about when the sea breeze died, and the greenheads would swarm. Since we were elbow-deep in slime and guts while cleaning our catch, swatting the attacking beasts had unpleasant consequences. Cloudy and humid 70s in Augusta, and should be raining an hour from now.

Most welcome BD of my memory. As of that Saturday evening, BGR forecast for Sunday was for near 100. Waking up to 70° with sprinkles was a joy. P&C has 100 at ASH on Saturday.

I wonder if some mets who busted low on Harvey overcompensated on this one. Of course, a ragged Cat 1 that crawls is different from a Cat 4 that parks. Either way, I'm very happy that the effects are as modest (so far) as we've seen.

After playing with Google Earth, those above locations confirm my suspicions that, prior to the current observer's move to 1.3 miles N of the PO, all locations were in the built-up part of town. The 19898-to-1942 site would be among houses that, for the most part, are still there. It and 1944-45 are on SW-facing sidehills, while the others prior to 1966 are pretty much flat. The original at/near PO location has been built up for well over a century, though in the 1890s the streets were likely unpaved. The current location lies north of the built-up area, on a west-facing sidehill, a considerably different type of site from all previous ones. The info you found can explain a number of facets of the co-op's data, and looking for signs of 7 AM obs time (typically, "twin" winter minima during a cold snap when nearby sites only show one) can offer additional clarity. I've found no signs of mid-afternoon (typically 4 PM) obs, most easily noted by twin maximums in hot weather. The 6/1/1948 date is one I've noted as start-up for many other co-ops. It's like NWS got some post-war funds to establish dozens to hundreds of new sites, and perhaps some relocations of existing ones.

We attended an outdoor wedding on July 3, 2002, which had the highest mean temp I've recorded at my place since moving there in May 1998. The wedding was early afternoon in South Gardiner at elevation 30' asl, totally in the sun and without the slightest breeze. Everyone survived, but it must've been a near thing.

Boston mean on Hot Saturday was 92.5 (102/83), only 0.5° above 7/22/2011 (103/81) but 2.5° above 3rd place. Their 8/2 mean probably isn't far from that for yesterday. In January, a day that's 20° AN qualifies as a torch but happens every few years.. In July/August it would set all time heat records.

And didn't ask about the climate (or chose to ignore it.) Mr. Knight was in his encampment the morning that Big Black River set a new state record at -50. At my place, 9 miles NW from his camp, it was -36 that morning. Outside his shelter in the woods it was probably about 10° less cold, but that's -32 C, not -20. Knight lit no open fires but had a huge stash of 20-lb propane cylinders, though he apparently used them more for cooking than for heat as he could never steal enough to provide heat all winter. "Stranger in the Woods" is a fascinating - but strange - read.

That could work if it was like 2/2/76, when BGR temps hit 57 with RA then dropped to 1. (As the downtown parking lots flooded from water blown up the Penobscot estuary)

So is my oven. I recall some old records for that spot that featured days with temps like 126/102. (low, not TD) Cannot imagine walking out of the 75° AC at 3 AM and getting hit with 100+.

Agree. ALB is not only shiny, but has much more distinct white dots. Native longhorned beetle, aka sawyer, or powder-post.

Well, duh! Thanks again. PO there is 100 yards south of the center of town (stoplight at Main/Broadway), so now I have info to track obs sites. 0.13" in shower last night. Left windows open in car and portable Bluetooth speaker probably ruined. Had some wind there to blow water inside? None here, but added 0.15" last evening, over nearly 2 hours. Given the narrow echoes a couple hours earlier, I expected maybe 10-15 minutes at most. System total 1.05". Bright sun with temps shooting up thru the 60s, a bit stuffy but dews are supposed to settle back into the 50s.

Frost for Estcourt Station. (After a heat wave the previous week)

Too much nitrogen compared to other nutrients can favor vegetative growth over blossoms. Offhand I don't recall whether it's phosphorus or potassium (the other 2 macronutrients) that fosters flowering. Search engine should easily supply that info. Still cloudy but thin enough so there are fuzzy shadows - 71/66.

Nice hedge. And though they are the same species as what you ride by in the wintertime swamps, sometimes the selecting for special traits like columnar growth can have some unexpected effects on other plant characteristics. Maybe the nursery folks also selected for those trees that really really loved well-drained loams.

Gotta teach the aspiring mets how to deal with frustration, as they're apt to face a lot when they begin forecasting professionally. Bits of blue amid the clouds here in Augusta. 68/66 at 1 PM.

That soil partially explains (to me) why your arborvitae turned brown - I'm assuming that's what "arbor" stands for. Part of the problem may be the particular cultivar, because in the wild that species, Thuja occidentalis, is Northern white cedar which does quite well on most wet sites. Always a relatively slow grower, that growth becomes miniscule when there's no water flow thru saturated soils, such as in bogs. The tree does best in what's called a seepage forest, with saturated soils but continual slow water flow. They like a sweet soil, part of their acid-bog problem (cedar is small and ragged-looking there) while growing fairly well in droughty shale pits where pH is much higher. If you have more of those species in harm's way, a little lime or wood ashes might help, though improved drainage would do more (and both would be best.) Rain didn't get to my place until 7:30 last evening and by 9 had dropped a whole 0.01", making me think - another miss is on the way. However, by 7 this morning we'd had 0.87", never heavy though sometimes moderate, so a near-perfect drink for the garden.

Thank you thank you! for digging this out. I'll assume, w/o further info, that the obs site remained the same from 6/1/48 until the current observer took over in 1966. The move early in 1898 is telling, as all the 1890s triples occurred before then, and temps didn't again reach the mark until the 1911 inferno. The one oddity that remains is the very mild minima of August 1949. Farmington has had 38 minima 70+ in 126 years and the only months with more than 2 are 8/1896 (3) and 8/1949 (5). Raising the bar to 72 drops the total to just 12, and 8/49 notched 4 of them. No other month has had more than one. Since that hot month, there's been only one day, 7/21/1977 (74) with a low milder than 71. What does PO stand for, point of original? Center of town?

Hoping for at least 1/2" and a full inch would be better. Water table is fine thanks to 3.6" RA June20-30, but July stands at 0.05" and the upper layers, where much of my small-seeded veggies still live, are getting dry. Awakened @ 4:30 AM for the 2nd straight morning by the coyote family, maybe 100 yards from my open windows.

My dad hated cats. He also wasn't much for restaurant dinners; most such excursions involved the Essex County branch of the family and were in their neighborhood. From our home in Morris County, Bergen seemed about the same distance away as the like-named city in Norway. A little more dewey out ahead of the front that sweeps thru over the next day or so, 75/65°F. Temps at or below yesterday at this hour, but dews are sneaking in from the SW. Noon TDs: LEW: 67 AUG: 62 WVL: 58 BGR: 53

Had no clue. Search engine turned up a couple references to a now-closed CT steakhouse (the au jus?) and many more references to places in FL. I'm guessing your reference ain't for the Sunshine State. Given my residence location and those of family, I've not been very far off the interstates in CT, which generally means missing the good places.

Your local deerflies must've gone to bed already, or are a much different breed than ours, which treat DEET as salad dressing. (or au jus) Who is more childish, the one person who makes a passing comment on dews, or the 15 people who can't ignore the comment Posting science-based counter-evidence doesn't seem childish, though like anything one can take it too far.

Many of the grass species often used in the North are cool-season adapted, and will naturally become dormant in big heat/dryness then spring back to life when cooler wx returns. One can keep such grasses green throughout with abundant watering, but it's not the natural sequence for those species - more like using artificial lights to force your potted daffodils to bloom for the mid-March flower show.

Ours is set at 62 year-round in the main zone, but that doesn't mean much as it's less than 15' from the Jotul and in summer the furnace runs only for domestic hot water. Rear zone sometimes gets set at 65 in winter to lower the blanket load for my wife. Office has been 77-78 for the past 2 weeks, a bit stuffy at first but one adapts. Last year at this time it was 82-84 while the office across the hall was about 70 with the blower on constantly, and the staffer there put on extra clothes and still shivered. It's a century-old brick fortress and even the retro-fit of 12-14 years ago didn't solve everything. Improved my current office (in a framed 80-year-old addition) a bit - last pre-reno winter I was here (1995-96) temps at desk level ran 60-62, a bit chilly on the fingers, while at ankle height it was low 40s. Made me get up and walk more often - not a bad thing. Of course 2-3 days after a large snowfall, when hundreds of pounds of snow/ice slid off the slate roof some 25-30' higher than here and came thundering down atop the roof 6 feet above my head, I always wondered if the old framed roof would hold.

Don't think anyone was trying to claim that smoke never warrants an AQ alert, only that the initial alert that was posted here mentioned only ozone.

Warm farther east - CAR is about +4 and GYX +5 so far. I'm +1.3, but my records go back only to 1998, thus do not include the cooler 1980s that remain in the current 30-year norms. I'd guess the Farmington co-op is running about +3. However, except for last Fri-Sat, it's been the nicest AN July one could ask for.