tamarack

A loud echo to what J.Spin posted. And I'm glad to see another Maine peep on board. Only 3 reported last season.

With the whole thing framed by the slightly lighter green of the white pines. Super composition.

The Farmington observer began in 1966, and I think he's well into his 80s. If there's no replacement at Eustis, there goes that whole area, as Long Falls Dam fell off the grid about 7 years ago. Pittston Farm stopped, so there's little beyond Rangeley and Jackman for all of the true western mountains and the whole of NW Maine. Phillips and Andover are technically n that forecast region (Mts) but both are relatively low elevation. Sad.

Thanks. Both ladies doing fine. Thins were going slowly until 10 PM, then our daughter had a huge contraction and realized "it's tonight", and a few minutes later, "it's now!!" S-I-L had already called for help, and the EMT arrived 5 minute before the birth. Quite the circus, with two ambulances (in case both girls needed serious help) and at least one local cop. Daughter's memory was a bit fuzzy (suprise!) but she recalls somewhere between 6 and 10 first responders in the room. Colors are somewhere in the high/peak range here, and quite nice - bright yellows and some really vibrant reds. The same unending humidity that probably caused most of my apples to decay on the trees also made for great color? I don't know how that process could be related to the leaf color itself - perhaps Tamarack can explain that... Your guess is as good as mine. However, in my 21 fall leaf seasons here, the only really bad season was 2005 - no reds at all except for that one dependable (though about 10 days behind the other trees) maple on Sand Hill in Augusta. That was also Maine's wettest year on record.

Agreed. A further note on that event: Maine's Public Utilities Commission investigated Central Maine Power's response - CMP had more customers in the dark than in the 1998 ice storm, though for a much shorter period. The report came out week before last, and while basically giving CMP decent marks, also briefly noted that "winds were stronger than forecast." Maybe more widespread, but my recollection (and digging through the thread here on that storm), is that NWS pegged the event pretty well. Anyway, when public radio reported on the PUC opinion, guess what was highlighted - yup, the words in quotes, above. Why am I not surprised? My opinion on October snow as a predicter of winter goodness is mixed but mostly bad. In Fort Kent, Oct snow generally presaged a fine snow season. Everywhere else I've lived it generally was followed by dreck (67-68, 87-88, 05-06, 11-12), with 2000-01 the one clear exception. That said, all snow is good snow (with the possible exception of late Feb 2010.) Edit: If the season tendency continues, whatever is left of Michael will almost completely remain south of here.

Was there a stalled front somewhere in SNE all week? Mod-Wed in SNJ we had highs 80-83, dews well into the 60s, and a nice TS late Mon evening. then Thurs-Fri were raw upper 60s with occasional spritzes. Sat was 70 with clouds and high dews. We get home and find that the temp here topped out at 59 for the 6 days, low of 33, 0.90" precip. (IIRC, this past Wed-Thurs had been progged for 75 and maybe 80 for our area.)

Colors should be at peak here, though our trip back from SNJ offered little to see due to messed up plans. Even so, and with the limited spectrum of auto headlights, we spotted some bright reds on Mile Hill at 2:40 AM. More on the odd timing: We'd left family, including our new grandkid (she was in a hurry, had arrived on the dining room floor), after a late lunch, expecting to reach a motel in Sturbridge shortly after 8 PM. Several traffic jams moved that back to about 9:45, but it would not have made any difference. No room at the inn, and after countless calls from Sturbridge, MA to Saco, ME, we gave up - next possibility would've been PWM, and we were not about to drive 2.5 hours and then try for lodging less than 90 miles from home. Holiday weekend, all the places were either full of leaf peepers, or unwilling to rent for just Saturday night - looking for Sat-Sun customers, even at 11 PM Sat night. At that late hour, why not take half a loaf?

Might be a week later this year, but we'll still peak before Oct. 10, so maybe closer to half a week. Some nice reds beginning to show.

No worries yet - if Novie stays warm, different story. Small sample (20 years) but here's how snowfall has varied following AN/BN OCT & NOV, by percent of my current 90.0" average. Numbers in parentheses are occurrences. OCT NOV AN 106% (10) 92% (10) 2+AN 125% (4) 94% (5) 4+ AN 117 (1) 106% (1) * BN 94% (10) 108% (10) 2+ BN 78% (5) 115% (6) 4+ BN 75% (1) 113% (0**) * That contrary season was 2006-07, when 80% of the snow came after Feb. 1. ** Percent is for 2013-14, as Nov. 2013 was coldest of 20 at -3.6. Note: I did this exercise for the 125 years of the Farmington co-op and found all the same trends (except for Nov +4), though not as pronounced.

Only on a day when I can go icefishing. Except of course for the obligatory grinch storm. Last year was the un-Grinchiest of 20 here, with cold wx and 8" powder on Christmas Day, falling atop a 10" pack. In 20 years, only 5 have avoided the Grinch. 12 have had rainy, snow-eating wx and the other 3 had the same sensible wx but no snow to begin with.

Tale of 2 seasons. Cherrypicking start-end dates: Nov 8-Jan 13, 67 days: temp +7.00 Precip 9.62" Snow 11.0" Snow/day: 0.164 Jan 14-Apr 18, 94 days: Temp -4.91 Precip 15.17" Snow 84.3" Snow/day: 0.897

Near the hacienda the leaf drop isn't far behind color change, thanks to about 1/3 of the trees being early-naked ash. That species' drop ranges 30-90%, avg 50, while all others are under 10% drop, perhaps 30% color.

0.16" from the CF showers, though I was out with the dog when the heaviest arrived. The whole WF/CF process brought 0.90" here, and only the far north got less. Month is at 2.26" (avg is 3.7") and that's probably where it will finish. Saw some very distant little flashes, couldn't even tell from which direction, on the month's last thunder opportunity. Sept. averages slightly less than 1 thunder day, max is 2 - many times, and this month will make 9 of 21 with none. We've had 10 thunder days this year, and the avg is 15-16. Given the mongo dews late June onward, it's surprising that thunder occurrence is BN rather than way AN. OND avg is 0.7, max 3, and 11 of 20 years have had none, so we'll finish below the avg. (Still awaiting 1st Novie thunder here.) Edit: Might need some QC on Dixfield's cocorahs reports for Sept. 26 and 27. The 2-day total there is 9.11", while nobody else in Maine reached 3" and next highest in Oxford County was 1.66". Dixfield borders Franklin County, and tops there was 1.13".

Nah. It was Downeast Maine that did the thievery, with 2 ft plus in eastern Washington County. Same as the 1st big storm of the season in early November, when inland Downeast got 12-20" and we got 0.5". Had 0.72" thru 7 this morning with only drizzle to come unless the CF storms hit this afternoon/evening.

0.38" by 9 this evening, bringing the month to just over 1.5". With only light rain upstream, we finish with maybe 2" (for the month.) Probably not all that much more between now and Oct. 1, but since this morning's 28 thoroughly fried the garden, it matters little. Today was 13-14° BN, pulling the month nearly back to the norm. We finish within 0.5° of the 21-year average, probably on the high side of it.

Deer chops? Yum! (Though our pike stew tonight is pretty good.)

Handsome pic. The uncluttered bark of that tree suggests it's still adding diameter at a good rate, typical of tulip poplar. Slower growing trees tend to accumulate lichens and lots more vines than I see here. That species self-prunes as well as any I know of, so tulip poplars with 40-50 feet of clear bole are common in a forest setting, and when they're 2-3+ feet in diameter and less than 20 feet apart, they look like a wall of wood.

Great-looking tree. Reducing sail area (pruning) seems a sensible way to limit chances of windthrow, and silver maple is generally rather shallow rooted. A former co-worker bought a northern Maine house with a similar diameter silver maple with even wider forks and closer to the ground. Someone years earlier had inserted a 3/4" length of threaded steel rod through both major forks, with washers and nuts at each side to hold things together. Switching to cottonwood, and assuming it's Eastern cottonwood rather than one of its western cousins, it's a tree that contends with tulip poplar (not closely related despite the name) and sycamore for being the country's tallest deciduous species. Each of the three is known to have exceeded 150 feet. Your LI location should mitigate against severe ice storms, though wet snow could be an issue.

Aroostook dews in the teens/low 20s this afternoon. Might get pretty chilly there tonight.

TWC is what's wrong with wunderground. From quick and easy access it's become exceedingly frustrating to use. Clouds/breeze spiked the decouple here last night (low near 40), except for the NW half of the state - well down the 20s in places, perhaps u-teens at Estcourt Station?

While Pit 2 gets one snow-rain-mess event after another. Forecast of low 30s here was defeated by continuing breeze and partial cloudiness - didn't get much below 40. Different story in Aroostook, with low 20s at HUL/PQI. Potato Picker's Special was probably full of "will dig after 10 AM" messages. (Digging with any frost in the ground damages the spuds.)

Yesterday's wind brought down a fair amount of leaves, mainly white ash which is the first entry into stick season. Perhaps 20% color here, average hues, but today and tomorrow mornings will give colors a boost.

Fairly frosty and 30° at 7 this morning. The light frost 2 weeks ago left the garden unscathed. I don't think the cukes will escape this one.

And in 2021 they're going to take a big leap, dropping the much cooler 1980s in favor of the 20-teens.

Still dry in Augusta, with some nice colors sliding east less than 10 miles away. I'm glad the tiny shower yesterday afternoon dropped an unexpected 0.29" into our gauge. Nothing in Farmington from that one, and dry roads 2 miles to my south. Those little downpours miss my location 19 times in 20.