tamarack

Memories of that Gardiner store in '87. The impulse-buy shelves at the check-out aisles caught stuff like a baleen whale. Probably 90% of the locals were sure Hannaford would find a lot a mile or so south of downtown (and 150 feet higher) and build, but they tossed those millions to re-open (3.5 months later) at the place by the river. Last May the parking lot was flooded but I don't think any went into the store.

In 1987 there was 9 feet of water in the Gardiner Shop'n'Save (now Hannafords) and only the computers from the checkouts were saved. The $2.2 million loss was the single biggest chunk of the nearly $100 million damage from that event. (Perhaps 1/4 billion in 2023 dollars.) Vermont damage will likely be in the same general vicinity, I fear. (On the 1-year anniversary, the manager and crew "celebrated" the repairs, with butcher paper up on the walls with a wavy blue line showing the water level, continuous video of manager and another canoeing up and down the aisles amid the floating tater-chip bags, and a small rowboat hanging from the ceiling with 3 dummies in it holding fishing poles. When all is lost, laugh.) It is also a huge environmental disaster. There will be thousands of tons of waste and refuse that needs to be dealt with plus all of the toxins that were washed into the rivers and waterways and deposited elsewhere. My son and I visited downtown Gardiner in the evening of 4/1/87, walking out on the RR tracks (which went 2-3 feet underwater by the next morning). Everything stunk of gasoline, likely from water entering stations' underground tanks and forcing out the contents. Lots of other garbage turned loose as well. We also saw what looked like the top of a tin-roof camp floating by. It was actually front end of a 40-foot trailer with the rear axles 20 feet under the surface. Folks upriver saw that thing crash into the low bridge in Augusta and get pulled under.

TD hardly ever topped 60 thru June 23. It hasn't gone under that for more than a few hours since then. The dews are here, though not much big heat.

November 1927 is to Vermont what April 1987 is to the Kennebec/Androscoggin watershed.

I think it's in L.I Sound. Meanwhile, we've has just enough rain to keep things wet and moldy. Under 0.10" but light showers every hour or two.

Years ago I was told, by someone with hydrology education/experience, that flow velocity is a 5th-order function. Doubling water flow velocity would thus increase erosive power by a factor of 32.

The 1 PM New England roundup from GYX did not show Montpelier, though it was there an hour earlier. Don't know whether that is significant. Less than 0.05" here, not expecting much until sunset (if then).

Just starting to rain here. We're under a flood watch but I doubt we'll have anywhere near enough for significant issues. Read that West Point, NY had 7.5" in 6 hours, with some serious flooding at the Military Academy. It's perched on a plateau facing the Hudson but must get runoff from the west. In other news, there's at least one road in Jay still closed due to the June 29 downpour.

Pompton/Passaic Rivers go wild. Rt 23 under water for a week?

We stayed in one of the cottages of Bar Harbor Motor Inn on days 4 and 5 of our honeymoon in 1971. On 6/24 we bought 2 cooked lobsters and headed up Cadillac for a Maine luncheon with a view. Plenty of parking places - maybe 10 cars there at most - and the lobsters were delicious, but . . . --Visibility was 50 yards in fog - first reason there were few cars there. --We forgot to grab napkins - anyone who has tackled whole lobsters knows what a disaster that was. --The facilities and fountains had yet to be opened/turned on - 2nd reason for the empty lots. We still laugh about it.

As long as it's not raining or wrapped in fog, Acadia is great. Our last visit was 3 years ago with our 2 oldest grandkids and conditions were what I'm looking at right now - low 70s, humid, cloudy. It was quite windy at Cadillac summit, which actually was fun for the kids. Unfortunately, it was the wrong tide for Thunder Hole; I've seen swimming pools with bigger waves. (Note: One now has to sign up for the drive up Cadillac, to prevent having more cars than can be parked at the top.)

Our area got 4"+, less toward Augusta, but the Carrabassett drainage (Sugarloaf area) had 8+, with that river's peak flow topping 30,000 cfs, 2nd highest in 100 years record. (Since topped by May 1 this year at 35k, but 1987 stands alone at over 50k.) The 'Loaf was isolated as bridges on Rt 27 north and south of the access road were washed away.

No, West Fayson Lake in northern Morris County. Round Valley is 35 miles SW and about 30 times larger. That 3-4” in one hour on radar estimates near Killington with legit mudslides really f*cked up RT 4 it sounds like. Pics looked similar to Jay Maine after 5-6" in <3 hours on June 29. The last homeowners to regain access to their homes (or to leave) was provided only yesterday. State highway Rt 133 is still local access only for 6-7 miles, with no thru traffic. Last weekend a pickup driver went past cones/signs and ended up on the driver's side in a washout. No injuries. Strong storms just north last evening. Quick 3/4" in Farmington with minor flooding near McDonalds, 0.11" here.

Blecchh! Back in the late 50s/early 60s, our small (50 acres) lake in NNJ would reach temps like that in the upper 4-5 feet. I'd swim behind the diving dock, take a couple deep breaths and head for bottom, only 11-12 feet away but where the water was upper 70s. Might get a minute or so of nice cooling before needing air. (There was a reason my sometimes nickname was "turtle".) Some impressive echoes heading our way - or heading just to the north.

Similar here, adjusted for transpiration - 89 with TD 67-68 yesterday; 86 today, TD 70-72, HX prob same. The other difference is today's 10-15 mph breeze while yesterday barely moved the leaves.

87/75 at PQI, tall dew for the County. HX 96. 85° here in the woods, TD low 70s, HX ~90, a bit lower than yesterday's 89 with TD 67-68. Breezy today as well. Don't know whether the boomers move this far southeast. We've yet to have a significant TS his year; nearest strike ~5 miles away. Also, have not had a nighttime light show in a decade or more, though we had a near-severe daytime TS on 6/14/22 - 0.85" in 10 minutes, with the 2nd 5 minutes much heavier than the 1st with a few dime-size bouncers and gusts ~40. Big time, for here.

Had a normal (bad) black fly season in May but very few paper wasps - maybe because 2 were apparently mating on the porch steps in late May, enabling me to fatally interrupt the action. Deer flies are out but few - I draw solo attacks when the usual would be a half dozen. (Which pales compared to my years in the Allagash-St.John forests: dozens of deer flies plus even more similar-size but non-carnivorous flies in the swarm - "sweat-lickers" I called them, as that's what they would do upon landing on me. Trouble was, with hundreds circling and bouncing off, I could not discern which were carrying knives until I got stabbed.)

We don't need rain at present, but it was interesting watching some serious echoes dying on our doorstep then reform to our east. There's more to the west, including some flash flood warnings, so we'll see if they make it here. So far, today resembles Sunday June 25 - high POP forecast turns to clouds and filtered sun, and muggy.

Minima during that streak were even lower at Farmington: 7/3/1911 99 67 7/4/1911 102 68 7/5/1911 98 61 7/6/1911 102 63 7/7/1911 88 63 7/8/1911 90 48 7/9/1911 96 55 7/10/1911 104 65 7/11/1911 102 68 7/12/1911 96 61 However, I think the dews reached ASH, especially July 3-6: 7/3/1911 105 72 0 7/4/1911 106 76 0 7/5/1911 105 72 0 7/6/1911 103 78 2.14 7/7/1911 87 72 0 7/8/1911 90 57 0 7/9/1911 96 62 0 7/10/1911 103 70 0 7/11/1911 102 74 0 7/12/1911 99 72 0 2"+ with a low of 78, ugh! Even after the 2-day "warm-down", their minima remained high.

No rain yet today, but thru yesterday we've had 9.07" June 1 forward and 16.68" since April 30. Continued precip at that rate would be a 93"/year pace. 112 years ago today was the hottest day in recorded history for much of CNE. And no one was installed. 112 years ago today was the hottest day in recorded history for much of CNE. And no one was installed. All 3 NNE states set their all time hottest on 7/4/1911. Bridgton Maine did theirs twice: 7/3/1911 102 69 7/4/1911 105 72 7/5/1911 99 67 7/6/1911 102 69 7/7/1911 90 66 7/8/1911 86 60 7/9/1911 97 63 7/10/1911 105 66 7/11/1911 103 74 7/12/1911 97 70

Water snakes I saw in NNJ eons ago had red makings that slightly resembled the pattern on copperheads, especially if the water snake had just shed its skin. I lost count of the "copperhead" sightings I checked out during my teens/early 20s. A few were bull snakes or even garter snakes but 90% were water snakes. Only in the hot dry summer of 1966 did I see actual copperheads (all having been dispatched before I viewed them) and the color was not even close, with the viper having an alternating light/medium rust color while water snakes had red alternating with black or dark brown. Biggest water snake I encountered was closer to 4 feet than 5, and the only one that was aggressive was half that long. I'd thrown a rock on/near it, doing little harm (it was in 2 feet of water) but as I picked it up it bit me, leaving a little tooth in my finger. Can't blame the snake for that. Rain stopped by 9 this morning, had ~10 minutes of sun a bit after 2 PM and it's trying to come out at present.

I'm not familiar with that insect. I'd recommend a search to find out how they overwinter, and if that might be a time to control, or at least have a guess for populations the next growing season.

Same 5 dry days here but only one day with a trace. The 24 days with measurable precip is the most I've recorded here for any month. Also had 16 days with 0.10"+, 2 more than any other month. Somehow, we managed to have nearly 8" RA without ever having a calendar day with 1"+. (Missed 4-6" in 1-2 hr by <10 miles Thursday, fortunately.) June 2023 numbers: Avg max: 67.27 4.05 BN Avg min: 51.30 1.94 AN The avg diurnal range is the least for any month March-September. Only the short day/low sun angle months have had less. Avg mean: 59.28 1.05 BN Month's max was 89 on the 1st, min 41 on the 4th, only the 2nd of 26 Junes that failed to get below 40. Max on the 4th was 47, only the 4th sub-50 max in June. (The 3rd had an afternoon max of 47 spoiled by the 57 at my obs time late on the 2nd. Precip: 7.89" top day, 0.94" on the 17th June had 20 cloudy days and only 2 sunny. That 20-day mark trails only the 21 in Dec 2020, home of the Mega-Grinch, but 2/20 had 5 sunny days. Last month only had 20% available sunshine, 4 less than 12/20. Those are the only months under 25%. Total rain was nearly 2" less than June 2009 but the deleterious effect on our garden has been very similar, maybe worse due to the lack of sun.

Very flat peak here. Warmest daily mean is late July but from July 10 thru August 10 the average is within 1° of that peak.

Entirely due to winners/losers on March 14. Top 5 in SNE (All in Mass.) with total and 3/14 report: Dave 87.25" 29.5" Subdude 82.25" 27.0" White Rain 75.2" 26.5" Winging_it 62.5" 18.0" You 41.8" 5.0"