tamarack

2007 was our snowiest December and February 2008 was only 0.4" behind 2017 for tops. (noted on the sig)

Can one drive to the summit now? It's 53 years since we visited Whiteface on our honeymoon, and back then the road ended about 250' vertical below the top. We walked thru a tunnel (still ice on the walls in late June) then took an elevator to the summit. Also rode the decrepit and scary lift to Little Whiteface, but that's another story.

Super latitudinal that season. CAR lacked only 2.2" from reaching 200. My place 2.2° lat to the south had 142.3" and Dendrite, 3.5° south of CAR, had a bit more than my place. Meanwhile, PVD had 24.7".

Record high of 83 on the 23rd, record low of 20 two days (and 63°) later. It had to even out at some point. It always does. Last winter it happened twice. Record wet December, 68% AN January, record dry February, record wet March. (Also record wet DJFM) Can make one dizzy.

PWM's 1st four weeks, 7 days of 80+ along with the howling CF on 10-24 that spread the wildfires that covered nearly 200,000 acres and killed 15, Maine's greatest fires. The 83 on 10/23 is the site's highest so late in the season. The 87 on 10/7 is the 2nd warmest day in October, behind the 88 on the same date in 1963. 10/1/1947 58 32 0 10/2/1947 58 43 T 10/3/1947 63 34 0 10/4/1947 66 30 0 10/5/1947 73 41 0 10/6/1947 84 51 0 10/7/1947 87 58 0 10/8/1947 81 54 T 10/9/1947 64 41 0 10/10/1947 61 32 0 10/11/1947 65 39 T 10/12/1947 61 40 0 10/13/1947 66 41 0 10/14/1947 75 43 0 10/15/1947 74 39 0 10/16/1947 79 44 0 10/17/1947 84 44 0 10/18/1947 82 50 0 10/19/1947 80 56 0 10/20/1947 79 55 0 10/21/1947 69 48 0 10/22/1947 70 37 0 10/23/1947 83 35 0 10/24/1947 59 26 0 10/25/1947 65 20 0 10/26/1947 65 37 0 10/27/1947 73 39 0 10/28/1947 78 41 0

Yankees home opener was scheduled to start at 1 PM. Conditions at the Stadium then: 25°, heavy snow, 6" new. Since their records began in 1869, no other April storm was anywhere near as wintry, though 2 (1875 and 1915) were a bit greater. Some MA points had measurable snow on 10/10/79, including 0.3" at DCA. Norfolk in NW CT had 6.8".

GYX had forecast strong winds, but didn't post the wind advisory until about 8 AM, which is when the windiest 3-4 hours commenced. In the afternoon the wind advisory leapfrogged to east of Penobscot Bay.

Generator shut off at 3:10 after 5:45 running time. Found a few leaves, but no grandkids to jump into them. Dog has no interest at all.

A piece of the pumps canopy was torn off at Irving's Big Stop on Rt 2 in Farmington; looks like no one was underneath at the time. Road blockages and power outages common all over Franklin County. Our genny is into its 6th hour

Still no power here but not quite as windy - G35 instead of 40. CMP scoped out our short road about 11:15. The four lodged firs that were tipped on 12/18 remain secure; any one of them would easily reach our power lines if they came loose. Leaves are piled up and I'm counting on a bit less wind before I move them to their winter home (including some atop 2 rows of carrots for next April - dug the other 2, nice size and form).

Just a dusting here last 12/13 but we had 12.4" on 12-3-5. The 2.3" RA (some ZR at start) compacted snow to 4" then came 4.2" on 17-18, most falling at 50-55°. Was glad there was little on the ground going into the deluge, as it would've melted 20" and possibly turned the 2nd highest peak flows in the Kennebec drainage into new all-time records. Still no power here but not quite as windy - G35 instead of 40. CMP scoped out our short road about 11:15. The four lodged firs that were tipped on 12/18 remain secure; any one of them would easily reach our power lines if they came loose.

At the late lamented Farmington co-op (volunteer passed and no one picked up the torch), 32 out of 128 Octobers had measurable snow, some in each decade except the 1980s and the 2 years of the 2020s. Average snow in those winters was 1.2" AN but since the Oct snow averaged 2.6", the November-May average was 1.4" BN. Only 3 Octobers had 6"+ (1962, 1965, 2011) and those winters ran +6.6". Of course, those Octobers averaged 7.2". All that adds up to not much effect. Wind is howling, gusts to 40+ which is significant here in the woods. Went to generator power at 9:25. Trees around the yard are 90%+ bare and the leaves are nice and dry, perfect for raking. It may be dumb in this wind, but I'm going to try anyway as the Monday rain and unsettled week may not allow the leaves to re-dry.

Coburn Gore FTW? Or Kibby Ridge where the wind towers are lined up.

Peak is well passed in the Maine foothills. The Whites are a week or more earlier. Except for oaks and some holdouts, it's probably close to stick season there.

The wildlife biologist with whom I often traveled for 30 years once (when I wasn't there) encountered an out-of-state hunter sitting in a truck with engine running, parked on a northern Maine logging road. He stopped to ask if all was well. The answer was that it was his chum's turn to hunt - one would walk into the woods a few hundred yards and sit on a log and the other would wait a certain number of minutes (30 IIRC) then honk the horn so the first guy could find his way out and make the switch.

About 3,170 according to G.E. There's always Greylock, though, about 300' taller. (And in SNE, sort of)

And the cold gets stronger . . . First 32 of the season, almost 3 weeks later than average. More to come next week. Today's wind will pull down some more leaves, but the big drop came Saturday-Monday. We're at about 75% drop; ash is bare and white birch almost the same, maples and yellow birch at 30-90% drop, oaks dragging as usual, mostly still green.

Thanks for the recap - among many other things it confirmed that retention stunk. Our (usually) pack-retaining site had 111% of average snowfall but only 67% of SDDs. That's by far the lowest SDD percentage for a winter with AN snow and only the late-blooming 06-07 came relatively close. Touched 32 this morning, 1st of the season so we're on our way.

It's 44 years ago but still a clear memory of walking into a spot 1/2 mile from the road to sit where I'd taken a deer 2 years earlier, on a day with continuous light snow. After several hours I came back to see that 3 deer had walked past the truck, coming within 5 feet of it. (My intention of catching up to them failed as I was in an open road and was spotted before I saw them. That was my 5th deer season up north and the first one in which the deer all eluded me.

I've seen 27.9 in the Aleutians. For the lower 48, it might be the OV bomb of Jan. 1978. Lowest I've seen in Maine was 857 mb at CAR during the SE gale of Feb 2, 1976 (just before their temp plunged from 49 to -7 in 8-9 hours, with gusts 50+). At 11:15 last night our temp was 36 under bright stars and a frost/freeze seemed inevitable. Then clouds rolled in and brought a 60-second downpour (0.02") about 5 AM followed by fog, and the low was 34.

My younger brother's primary residence is near Cape Canaveral and the current center-of-cone has Milton passing 10-15 miles south of there as a strong Cat 1. That close to the center, even on the left side, won't be a pleasant place. One hopes they're at their 2nd home in northern Alabama.

In "Five Seasons", Roger Angell has a wonderful description of Tiant's windup. Luis was one of the few who would fully turn his back to the plate as part of the act. IMO, he belongs in the HOF. 66 WAR plus some post-season heroics ought to be enough. Only 20 MLB pitchers have tossed more shutouts - that's good company. He was on 31% of ballots his first year of eligibility and never again got more than 25%, a very odd sequence. usually, 30%+ in year #1 leads to enshrinement by about year 10. I was hoping that the Veterans' Committee would vote him in while he was still alive.

0.67" here, and sheet drizzle continued into the wee hours, keeping the temp well above freezing (low of 43) - maybe frost tomorrow morning if the clouds cooperate.

The Feb 1978 blizzard caused 99 deaths and destroyed or caused major damage to 1700 single-family houses. Peak gust was 92 mph at CHH. These numbers pale compared to Helene (and likely Milton as well) but are still significant, perhaps the highest since 3/1888.

Strongest at landfall is still the 892 of Labor Day 1935, though it trails Wilma and Gilbert for lowest mb overall.