tamarack

Maybe it's because of my job site (when not working at home) or something, but Maine - for all its protest-generating restrictions - seems very low key compared to what I'm reading about here. We have a sign-in site on the state website for when we plan to be in our office building and must wear masks there unless we're in a socially distant cubicle (like mine) but there was no other restrictions and I traveled all over northern Maine last week with no problems. (Our auditor from Vermont came and went freely; the other auditor is from Sault Ste. Marie, ON and "attended" the opening and closing meetings on Teams.) Maine has had some recent outbreaks but the overall case numbers are second lowest of any state. Vermont is lowest, and maybe they're going overboard to remain #1?

That's probably true but I don't think we can quantify the difference unless/until recreational marijuana is legal in most/all states. I voted against rec-pot in the Maine referendum, and having seen the tragic results of alcoholism up close I wish rec-alcohol were not a thing, but that ship sailed long since. So, apparently, has marijuana's watercraft. One positive thing I'd say about legalization concerns its reputation as a "gateway drug". If that was ever true, IMO it was because the pot suppliers were the same people who sold heroin, crack, and other things with a greater profit margin. Getting those dudes out of the process will close that gate (if it was ever open.)

Better than that here - Farmington's 2nd and 6th snowiest winters (also #112 of 127) and the 3-winter average is right on Raindance's 130% of normal. (For what all that is worth in October, of course.)

As a NJ expat I can understand that comment, but it depends on where in the state. We have family in SNJ farm country, well back from the shore, and there's little if any "Jersey attitude" there. Also as a NJ expat I realize I'll always be a "flatlander" despite having moved to Maine in January 1973 and worked in the Maine woods for 44 years. I've had almost no pushback, but I've also never carried on like I was a native.

Hope you're hunting not rafting - would be tough paddling while in a wetsuit. In our 3 days in Aroostook (also a couple hours in Piscataquis - Telos) for our forest management audit, we probably saw more than 2 dozen birds, including one that tried crossing the road with 2 pickups bearing down at 60+ on the St. Croix Road. Not enough left to be worth picking up.

Swamps always get filled before freeze-up.

Thanks again for this fun topic. Hope we all get to make a lot of significant entries.

#2 at my place, 8.5" compared to 10.3" on March 23-24. Only 2006-07 had a greater percentage of snowfall in spring in our 22 years here.

We aren't big on the 4 big network stations, but the political ads have also corrupted DIY/Animal Planet/Discovery/Science to a disgusting degree. Some days back I read that Collins/Gideon total money-wasting was at 98 big big ones, must be into 9 figures by now, most expensive non-presidential campaign in the country. When Judge Kavanaugh was nominated for SCOTUS, opponents in Maine (and elsewhere I'm sure) assembled nearly $4 million in pledges for whichever Democrat would be running for that senate seat, and they told Collins that if she voted not to confirm Kavanaugh the pledges would be ripped up. Kind of like a bribe offering. And the battle was on...

We had a pretty good winter last spring, but met winter was MEH!! No storms over 7", no sustained cold, mediocre pack, etc. CAR had about 150", however, though no real biggies even there.

Garbage for sure - 73-74 was my first full winter in Maine (BGR) and only a snowy April kept it from setting a futility record there. They had more after the equinox (21.0") than before (19.8") and my biggest pre-equinoctial "storm" was 4.5" of near-zero feathers that had 0.10" LE. The airport's biggest prior to spring was 3.3" in December that changed to RA and dumped nearly 3". That was the event that featured 56° in BGR and at the same time 15° at my parents' place in NNJ, while the western half of SNE had a lights-out ice storm. BGR's least snowy winter was 22.2" in 79-80; none came after the equinox.

The sub-heading for that article, below, is only a small part of its content, but I guess climate change gets clicks (like mine.) Climate change is taking a toll on woodlands in the Northeast. Much of the article was about the need for more arborists, a real issue. CC was noted as a factor but not applied specifically to the trees noted in the piece except in relation to drought, which though currently serious cannot compare to conditions in the (cooler) 1960s. One little part about planting southern trees was puzzling, mentioning black gum, pawpaw and persimmon as tolerant of warmth and drought. In Maine all the black gum I've encountered were in wetland soils. The same person then noted she was planting balsam fir to replace adelgid-vulnerable hemlock. Fir is considered at risk in Maine due to a warming climate; it's about the last species I'd recommend planting in Mass. Considerable discussion of emerald ash borer, not really a climate change issue. I was surprised at the article's dismissive treatment of biological control ( because "it's so expensive!") for EAB, when that strategy is the only option for saving ash in the forest - pesticide application is economically feasible only for valuable specimen trees. Not a bad article overall but had some headscratchers.

110" at Logan is probably about 250% - said the numbers Nazi.

300% AN? 4 times the average? Wouldn't that be near 170" for BOS? 14-15 was super for the eastern half of SNE, but that super? (Just idle curiosity, which has gotten me in trouble before.)

About half of my 142" in 07-08 was "nuisance snow" but it kept building the pack. We take (unless my nuisance 2" is 12" both north and south of here.)

Got 2.8" here.

Though Maine's new COVID cases are up from a month ago, their active cases have been running about 550 and hospitalized 10-15, ICU 1-2. With newbies averaging about 30/day, that plus actives would mean about 18 days from Diagnosis to recovery, which seems a bit long given the low numbers in hospital. Seems like Maine CDC has remained pretty conservative about declaring recoveries.

That's why a winter with 112" snow, about 125% of average, was frustrating - I had 4 of those mega-busts, events that verified at 1/8 or less of the low end of the forecast range. In addition to the SNJ bust (sad because it would've been the biggest storm ever for the snow-loving grandkids) the other 3 were: --November 2: forecast 4-8 (had been 8-12 the day before) verified at 0.5". Meanwhile the midcoast north of PWM got 8-14" and places downeast about 20. --December 9-11: forecast 10-16, verified at 1.2" plus 2.5" of 33-34F RA. Meanwhile western Maine mts above 1500' got a 15-25" paste bomb. --V-Day massacre: Forecast had been 18-24 when blizz warnings were first posted but dropped to 12-18 just before first flakes. Verified at 1.5" while BOS got 16 and Machias 25. (That eastern Maine town at 20' elevation had pack climb to 74" that winter, more than 2 feet higher than any winter at my pack-holding site. Best I could do in 14-15 was 31", barely above my average.)

We're in the woods of northern Maine all next week. Isaias came up to threaten our annual peer review field trip, so why not have Delta mess up our green certification audit? 12 hours ago, PhineasC said: I've had plenty of all stainless stuff rust out over the years though. There are different grades of stainless steel. "Stainless steel" is a marketing term. The military's "CRS" (corrosion-resistant steel) is more honest.

That was the only double-digit snowfall I personally witnessed that good-but-frustrating winter, and my only November storm of 10"+, anywhere. We did get 20" on Jan 27-28 but my only "witness" was behind the snowblower 12+ hours after final flakes. During the storm we were in SNJ, anticipating the forecast 12-16 there, which verified at 1.5", all of which was gone less than 4 hours after snow stopped.

Maybe "suspect" would be a better word. Or why we opened the wallet for an on-demand gennie last April, after several significant (up to 31 hr) and minor outages beginning last Oct. Ran for 10 hours last Wednesday - I can recall winder days in the "oughts" that did not affect power, or at most a blink or two.

That was the light-pillar storm at our place in Gardiner - vertical beams above the streetlights. We were getting rimey SN+ at 5° while 30 miles east RKD had 40s and SE gales. Then temps rose to 30 then dropped quickly to the minus teens. On I-95 south of BGR it had briefly risen above freezing and the snow plus cold froze lumps of stuff so solidly that one dared not exceed 10-15 mph, or risk having one's fillings shaken out. Even a grader was having trouble getting it off the pavement. That 12/12/2008 map is reminiscent of the "layering" during the Jan. 1998 ice storm: NYC area - 50s/60s and some RA. SNE - 40s and more RA. Southern Maine - 30-35 with cold rain and/or light/moderate ice. Central Maine (IZG-AUG and on downeast between Rts 1 and 9) - disastah, 27-31 with 2"+ ZR. Western Mts/foothills - mid-upper 20s and mostly IP, with some moderate ice. Aroostook - singles to teens, 18-27" of 8:1 cornmeal over a 5-day period of near constant precip.

I'd put that next to 3/1888 in the Hudson Valley, with April 1982 not far behind. 2/78 is right up there as well. (Not quite old enough to have seen 1888 but I'm 1-of-3 for the others - 2" in Ft. Kent from 2/78 and 4.5" from the Octobomb, while 4/82 blasted Aroostook.)

Maine's record pike was 31+ lb and 47", came thru the ice on North Pond in February thus fat with eggs. Back along I took a 30"/8 lb pike from Great Pond in March and the day before that Great Pond fattie a retired fisheries biologist caught a 33"/11 lb fish a few yards from where mine had come out. Years earlier I'd caught one 33" and 8 lb at North Pond in May - post spawn. 3 lb of eggs in that 11 pounder? No wonder pike populations can skyrocket.

Water year here finished at 45.88" which is 3.11" BN, all due to AUG/SEP which combined for 3.08" compared to the average of 7.52".