tamarack

8 hours ago, powderfreak said:

Black flies are horrific right now.  Bloody arms and legs, from killing them as they bite.  They are insufferable once you get into the woods and especially at elevation.  Eventually they will die off, and then it will be deer/horse flies as the culprit. 

Very mild black fly period here, but the mosquitos are thick.  Also, fireflies have arrived.
This year makes 30 years since the worst black flies I've encountered.  On Friday, 6/7/96, I was with 3 others at Oquossuc Bald Mountain scoping out a sno-mo trail, and I don't think we saw 10 black flies.  The following Monday-Friday was our church's men's wilderness retreat, that year at Deboullie, about 25 miles SW from Fort Kent, and I predicted a modest black fly population.  We drove to Portage Lake, got out at Coffin's store, and despite the high 80s (black flies tend to hide when it's hot) the area was thick with the little beasts.  I slathered some Ben's 100 before launching our canoes at Pushineer Pond, and by the 75 minutes to reach the west end of Deboullie Pond where we would camp, the bug dope was no longer working.  Another application lasted but an hour - Ben's usually is worth 5-6 hours; no way I would put that stuff on hourly.  Next day when CAR hit the 90s, I was getting bombed while in the middle of the pond, 100+ yards from shore.  (Not enough air space over land?)  Only place to escape, other than the 100°+ temp sun-blasted tent, was in the rock crevices on the NW side of the pond, where there were still ice and snow.  The black flies weren't interested where the temp was under 50.

17 hours ago, MegaMike said:

+6 degrees within 5 minutes. 

Definitely didn't expect that. The first few observations looked suspicious too.

Good call, @CoastalWx

I guess I gotta' torch the sensor to collect on the over

Ancient history (2010) - in late April that year, PWM temp jumped from a cloudy 59 to a sunny 84 in 15 minutes when the east breeze switched to a strong SW wind.  I was at Mercy Hospital overlooking the Fore River waiting for my wife's knee surgery to be finished and had a full view to E (some fog) and W (much haze).

As May 2026 expired while we were in SNJ, I'll put its history here.  Some data are averages from nearby sites, though the 31 on 5/31 is a certainty.

Avg max:    63.9   0.8 BN     Warmest was 86, on the 19th.
Avg min:     39.2   0.8 BN     Coolest was 26, on the 4th and 9th.
Mean:         51.6    0.8 BN     As both March and April were AN, met spring averaged 0.7 AN.

Precip:   4.17"    0.20" AN.   Wettest day; 1.40" on the 15th.   May 2025 was also AN, but the 10 of the 11 months thru last April were BN.

Nothing out of the ordinary this May.  The 2nd and the 2nd from last were windy and cold (2nd had some IP as well) but beyond those 2 days, little was particularly memorable. 
 

51 minutes ago, vortex95 said:

Bob tracking farther E made all the difference,  If you were in SE MA and CC, it was the BIG BLOW.  You can't expect too much when an accelerating HU passes E of you location at this latitude if you are looking for wind.  R++ OTOH? 

However sometimes wild turkey surprise occurs.  Edna in Sep 1954 BOS G88KT, it highest gust on record (beat G87KT from Carol 10 days earlier), and it was out of the NW as Edna passed over CC.  Edna was going ET rather quickly and I'd bet good $$ it was a sting jet over SNE.  If you look at HU Fiona's epic transition S of NS in Sep 2022, that's what likely happened to Edna.

Bob's landfall at BID was 90 kt, which is considerably above Gloria's (75 kt) and Belle's (65 kt) landfalls -- the strongest since Donna in 1960, so don't dis Bob! 

NWS BOX told me not long after Bob, they had a number of reports of "Scott spinners" on CC, but due to the extent of the straight-line wind damage and resources, they could not investigate those reports.  This was 2 years before the WSR-88D was installed, which now makes it much easier to pin down spinner reports and check specific areas, never mind cameras everywhere.  So the next HU that makes landfall in SNE, we'll likely see a number of spinners.
 

Those 3 1954 storms all had names of my relatives - cousin, aunt, great aunt chronological.
Carol was nothing I can remember, probably some rain at our NNJ home.
Edna was mostly dry.  We flew kites in its breezes.
Hazel had wind in NNJ comparable to Bob in central Maine, dumping some trees and plastering our home with pieces of tough October leaves.

Returned from our SNJ week last evening - #2 granddaughter's recital (plays flute/piano) and HS graduation, also saw the dress rehearsal of her school's mounting of "Annie".  She had her blond hair dyed auburn as she played Annie.  Got stuck in stop'n'go from south of Lowell nearly to Haverhill, no AC, car temp 89-90.  1,136 total miles.
Last Saturday we had wind tossing twigs from the sycamores and temp topping about 65 - norm there for 5/30 is 78-80.  While we were away, our temp ranged from 31 (late frost, perhaps Sunday morning?) to 84 (probably yesterday), and 1.02" rain.

On 5/31/2026 at 12:02 AM, 40/70 Benchmark said:

Bob was a yawner for most.

Maybe we got more than most - gusts to 60, scattered tree damage (some falling on SE winds, some on back side NW winds), and 6.41", greatest calendar day I've experienced.  It looms bigger because the following 43 years have provided only dreck for TCs.

6 hours ago, vortex95 said:

It's going to be that type of event where we may not know until it actually happens, if it does.  The fact that the GFS/ECMWF/GDPS/UKMET has shifted the heaviest QPF into NNE, that makes it more likely.  Look at the cold 850 temps NW of the 850 low.

It's never going to look like a lock, even close to it, for snowfall this time of year.  Fun 'n games watching noodles and cats paws on the car windshield.  Scott may just travel to NNE for one last look at winter 25-26!   LOL.

The 00z ECMWF for after the weekend event?  Omega "Supreme" does not want to go away.  Not 1, not 2, but 3 more cold 500 lows NEUS!  And another weekend potential ruined June 6-8 w/ back-to-back coastals. 

Morning discussion from GYX noted 0°C or colder 850s and the possibility of some graupel and/or snow at elevations this weekend.  Sunny 70s here today.

Rain shut off right at noon, 0.87" total.  Need about 1/2" to reach the May average.  Thought things would clear but there's been more clouds than sun this afternoon.

31 this morning, light frost and no damage to the fruit tree blossoms.  Median here for spring's latest frost is 5/23 - might hit that tomorrow morning (low chance).

Deep blue this morning, leaf development has leaped from <25% to >75% since last Friday - instant spring.

2 hours ago, WinterWolf said:

A 75:1 ratio….sounds almost impossible?  But I guess not. That’s truly impressive. 

That had been my thinking.  When I vertically inserted the snow shovel, I could see it 3-4" into the stuff - not really surprising for snow that's 98.6% air.

26 minutes ago, WinterWolf said:

The January fluff bomb had more wind here I think…now it wasn’t true blizzard…but we had very low visibility’s for a good amount of time in that one…with windy conditions at times…went out for a walk at the height(probably was a mistake lol), and couldn’t walk back to the house forwards, which was heading north into the snow, due to the wind driven snow here..and the cold was ferocious with 5 degree air temps, and  sub zero wind chills.  So that’s more what I mean. I took a little video…but I doubt I could upload it here. 

From 7 AM thru 1:30 PM on Jan 26, we enjoyed some of the prettiest, and slowest falling (<2 ft/sec) feathers we've seen - 6.0" in 6.5 hours.  Walking on that 6" was like walking on air; I figured that the 6" had less than 0.2" LE and was shocked that it melted to only 0.08", or 75:1.  Twice I've had storms of 4.5" with just 0.10" LE, 45:1, and once a 1" dusting had only 0.01", but 6" at 75:1 was something I thought impossible. 
Jan 25-27 data:
25:    2  -13   0.17"    2.0"   15"
26:   10   -1   0.55"   17.0"   28"   (peaked at 30")
27:   15   -4   0.05"   0.6"   25

51 minutes ago, Typhoon Tip said:

uhmm ... can you help me parse out this sentence ^   ?

Maybe scratch out the 2nd thru 5th words?

54 minutes ago, WinterWolf said:

Huh….?    You are wrong.  
 

2025-2026 winter was pretty dam good, two blizzards(one with single digit temps of 5-6 degrees), a 12/26 evening 9”er also with frigid temps. and very good cold all season..with good pack….that was pretty dam good imo.  

Even though we finished a couple inches below our average and missed the 2nd blizzard (0.2" - OceanStwx thanked me for establishing the north cutoff ), it was still a plus winter.  Most sustained cold since 18-19, good retention, 8.5" on 12/24 plus the Jan 25-27 fluff bomb, 19.6" from 0.77" LE.  Can't label it as blizzard as there was very little wind.

15 hours ago, powderfreak said:

So dry all the sudden.

72/37 for 29% RH.

Time to plant veggies, which usually means bye-bye rain.  Happens about 2/3 of years, with the other 3rd like 2005.  Or 2025 - 9 straight cloudy days 5/17-25 and 19-25 temps were 50.6/40.4 (that max is 16° BN) with no sun.  Pollinator punishment.

Yesterday's 16° AN (82/57) brought the month's temp right up to the average.

12 hours ago, vortex95 said:

A waterspout also occurred not far offshore from Rye Beach.

When I saw this and the radar loop, I said, "you've GOT to be kidding me, since when in New England does a tornadic supercell form on a edge of a gust from from a decaying squall line?!"  And SSTs on the NH coast are still pretty cold in mid-May, yet that did not impede things at all.

I think the only other time I was flabbergasted like this was the two mini-supercell tornadoes occurred in the Brunswick ME area on Thanksgiving in 2005.  This was after a couple of inches of snow has just fallen here in the previous several hours!
 

The Brunswick tornado was a brief ER-0 event about 4 miles SW from town center, and did minor damage.  The Phippsburg tornado formed just past noon about 15 miles SE from the first one.  It was an EF-1 with winds to 100 mph, tracking 3.8 miles with width to 75 yards.  Many trees were blown down and several buildings damaged, but no injuries were reported.
Meanwhile 65 miles north, we had moderate snow and 20s at the same time. 
Day's data:   27°   14°   0.39"   3.8"     The snow fell straight down, barely a breath of wind.

The official report:

A pair of waterspouts/tornadoes moved northward from the Gulf of Maine during the early afternoon of Thanksgiving Day. The waterspouts/tornadoes formed along a warm frontal boundary that was associated with an area of low pressure which was bringing snow to much of the state of Maine.

The first waterspout/tornado moved ashore over the southern tip of the Phippsburg peninsula near Bald Head, crossed Small Point, moved over The Branch, went ashore again on Hermit Island, lifted, reformed over Tottman Cove, and then went ashore once again near West Point.

The second tornado/waterspout reportedly touched down as a waterspout south of Brunswick in Middle Bay, then moved ashore near the northern end of Mere Point Neck, moved back over water at the northern end of Maquoit Bay, then moved back over land and crossed Bunganug Road before dissipating.

Just now, dendrite said:

Highs through 2p

Looks like EWR has that 97.   Warmth reached into Aroostook - HOU 82 at 2 PM, was 84 earlier.  Didn't get to northern ARO - FVE tops at 53 with RA.

41 minutes ago, HoarfrostHubb said:

It has happened before.  Highest temp in May (maybe even April for someone on here one year?)

April 28, 2009 hit 89, tops for that year.
In 28 years, we've had two months tying on 3 occasions and in 2010 the warmest (88°) was reached 5 times - May, July(2), August and September, hence the fractions below:
APR:    1
MAY:   3.2
JUN:   10
JUL:    9.4
AUG:   3.7
SEP:    0.7
Hottest here of 93 occurred on July 3 and September 9, 2002.

Low of 44, now approaching 80, but clouds have dimmed the sun.  We've gone from 5% leaf-out on Friday to 50% now and climbing; might be the quickest leaf-out I've seen.

2 hours ago, Ginx snewx said:

Same here. Forests definitely help with cooling. Really hating all the stripped Forests to put up Solar Panels farms

Some of that in Maine, but nearly all the panels are being installed on idle farmland.  Only advantage comes when the panels' life are done - quicker to revert the land to farming than to create a mature forest.

10 hours ago, vortex95 said:

Thanks for quantifying it w/ hard stats.  I had never looked them up.

So clearly the driest period in the last 60 years in the NEUS?

Looking at NYC and other (somewhat shorter record) sites, I'd put the mid-60s as the driest in a century or more.

10 hours ago, vortex95 said:

Yes, the last real multi-year drought in New England was in the 1960s, and yet the media has turned the word "drought" into a fear-mongering term, acting like its very existence is somehow atypical.

Every time we get into a extended period (up to 6 months) dry here, it always seems to correct itself after this time.  But that's not good for the fear-mongers, they just invented "weather whiplash" to still be negative/gloom and doom.  What, do they expect gentle April showers all the time and no drought conditions ever?

The 1960s drought in the Northeast 'peaked' in 1965.  Thay year was the driest on record for all 3 SNE states, plus NJ, PA, DE.  NY's record occurred in the drier region in the Allegheny Plateau, but the NYC records picture the drought clearly:
1931-60 norm:  44.24"  
Driest ranks, 1869-on:
1962   37.15"    21st
1963   34.28"   5th  (4"+ event in November prevented a new record.)
1964   32.99"   2nd
1965   26.09"   1st   (Remains of Camille doused one VA town with that much in 5 hours.)

1966 was tracking close to 1965 thru August.  Then 5.54" fell on 9/21/66, the beginning of the drought's end.
           JAN-AUG    SEP-DEC
1965     19.05"         7.04"
1966     19.79"       20.21"

54 minutes ago, 1985 Polar Bear said:

Maine seemed to have fewer juicy SWFE this past winter (just the one big one), which can be jackpots for western / northern areas.

The one big event, Jan 25-27, parlayed a modest 0.77" LE into 19.6" of fluff, ratio 25:1.   Next biggest was 8.5" on Christmas Eve.
Only once before have I recorded a storm of 15"+ with ratio above 16:1, at Fort Kent in December 1981 - 15.5"/0.68" for 23:1

12 hours ago, 40/70 Benchmark said:

OT, but just for awareness.

A- on the outlook...one of my better efforts.

Outside of the upslope sites, NNE did somewhat poorly, especially CAR.  Their 86.4" ranks 74th of 87 and failed to have a 10"+ event for just the 4th time in 60+ years.

56 minutes ago, weatherwiz said:

The word drought and New England should never be used in the same sentence. 

You're too young to have experienced the 1960s.  

1 hour ago, tunafish said:

I know it feels like 90% of connective storms fizzle by the time they reach the coast, but I don't think that's a new thing, or that it's gotten worse in recent years.  Missing 0.20" on a single cell a dozen times a year isn't going to make that much of a difference, I don't think.

But your overall point is clearly accurate - the coastal has experienced more dry conditions than most places in the state.

We're far enough from salt water to avoid significant marine influence.  However, with a warming climate one might expect more convective events, but the opposite has been occurring.  Our average for thunder days is 15 but in recent years it's been lower, and just 5 days last year, only the 2nd year below double digits (8 in 2010).  Met summer had only 2 instead of the average of 10.  Merely stochastic variation?  (SSS - we moved here 28 years ago on May 15.)

Had 1.28" between 9 last evening and 7:30 this AM, a very pleasant surprise given the modest forecast yesterday afternoon.  With that drink, the coming 70s should bring an explosion of growth - leaf out here is a bit behind the average.

Had 0.20" 6 PM thru now, one blip of color might hit us for a few cents.  Coming home from BGR we saw dark clouds ahead as we left I-95 in Newport.  Adjusted the wipers about 30 times in 45 miles after that, mainly between interval and stop (don't like the squawk of wiper vs. dry glass).  Forecast for this aft, tonight, tomorrow - less than 0.1" thrice, even with PoPs of 60/60/80%.  The 1-2" is staying west and south.